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Presented  to  the 
LfflRARY  of  the 
ITMVERSITY  OF  TORONTO 


by 

The  Birks  Family  Foundation 


/ 


/ 


[ 


I 


A 


VOYAGE 

ROUND  THE  WORLD, 

PERFORMED 

DURING  THE  YEARS  1790,  1791,  AND  1792, 

BY 

ETIENNE  MARCHAND, 

PRECEDED 

BY  A  HISTORICAL  INTRODUCTION, 

AND 


TRANSLATED   FROM   THE  FRENCH 
O  F 

C.  p.  CLARET  F  LEUR  I  EU, 

OF   THE   NATIONAL   INSTITC^TF,   OF   ART^    A  N  D  SC I  EN  C  Eîi, 
AND  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  LONGITUDE  OF  FRANCE. 


VOL.  11. 


LONDON: 

PRINTED  FOR  T.  N.  LONGMAN  AND  O.  REES,  PATER- 
NOSTER-RO-iV  ;  AND  T.  CADELL,  JUN.  AND  W.  DAVIES, 
IN   THE  STRAND.  " 

1801. 


Balchvin  and  Son,  Prinl-ers, 
New  Bridge-street,  London. 


CONTENTS 


OP 

THE  SECOND  VOLUME. 


CHAPTER  VIL 

PAGE 

Passage  from  the  North-weft  Coajl  ^Ameri- 
ca to  the  Sandwich  Iflands. — Captain  M.2ly- 
ch^,nd  provides  himjelfwith  refrejhments  there  y 
without  anchoring, — Inquiries  concerning  the 
quejîiony  To  whom  belongs  the  firft  dijcovery 
of  thofe  iflands  ? — The  perpendicular  height  of 
Jome  of  the  mountains  of  thefe  iflands  deter- 
mined  by  approximation,  —  Run  from  the 
Sandwich  Iflands  to  Macao,  through,  the 
Archipelago  of  the  Mary-Anne  Iflands, — 
Occurrences  at  Macao. — The  introduction  of 
furs  into .  China,  by  the  Jouthern  port  s  ^  had 
juft  been  prohibited,— General  confderations 
refpeEling  the  prefent  fate  of  the  fUr~  trade ^ 
and  what  may  be  expelled  from  it  in  future, 

CHAPTER  Vm. 

Departure  from  Macao. — Pajfage  of  the 
China  Sea. — Rectification  of  the  Chart  of 

a  2  that 


iv 


CONTENTS. 


that  Sea — The  Solide  faffes  through  Gaf- 
par's  Strait  hetween  the  IJlands  of  Banca  and 
Billiton.  —  New  Fla'd  of  the  two  Straits 
which  prefent  themjelves  between  thoje  IJlands, 
— Thofe  Straits  preferable  to  that  of  Banca. 
^N(*  ligation  from  Gafpar*/  Strait  to  the  IJle 
France. — Arrival  at  Port  du  Nord-Oueft 
(  Port  North-  weft  )  in  the  I  aft -mentioned  iftand, 
— liranJaEtions  there  

CHAPTER  IX. 

Departure  from  the  Ifte  of  France.  —  The 
Solide  touches  at  the  Ifte  ^Bourbon,  now 
called  the  Ifte  of  Reunion,  in  order  to  load 
there  with  coffee  — Run  from  that  iftand  to 
St.  Helena. — Stay  at  this  latter  iftand.— 
Directions  for  anchoring  in  its  road, — Various 
confiderations  reJpeCling  St.  Helena. — Advan- 
tages of  its  fituation,  and  of  that  of  Gibraltar 
to  the  nation  which  occupies  thoJe  'two  rocks. — 
Navigation  from  St  Helena  to  the  Strait  of 
Gibraltar. — 'The  Solide  returns  to  Toulon. 
— On  the  length  of  voyages  round  the  World-  ♦ 
and  the  means  which  might  ftjorten  it,  — 
Praifes  due  to  the  owners  of  the  fhip^  'to  the 
Captain  y  and  to  the  officers, — Utility  of  the 
new  methods  for  determining  at  Jea  the  pofition 

of  the  ftoip  *  1 

P.  S.  Success  of  the  Expedition   2 

VOCAB 


CONTENTS.  ▼ 

f  AGI 

Vocabulary  <?f  Wahitahô  (or  Mendana'^ 
Santa  Chriftina)  one  of  the  IJlands  of  the 
Archï-pelago  cf  the  Marquefas  de  Mendoça.  253 

Vocabulary  of  Tchinkitanay,  on  the  x\ox\ki- 
coafi  of  America,  in  the  latitude  of  57*^ 


north   . .  258 

ADDiriONS  to  the  Narrative  of  the  Voyage  268 

Ift.     For  the  iNTRODUcrioN  ibid. 

llnd.  For  the  Iflands  called  Las  Marquefas  de 

Mendoça   '70, 

îlîrd.  For  the  Group  of  Iflands  fituated  n  ihe 
north-weft  of  the  Marquefas  de-  Men- 
doça  280 

Extract  from  the  Journal  of  Lieutenant 

Hergeft   285 

IVth.  For  the  Ifland  of  Tinian   307 


Results  of  the  ohfervat  ions  for  the  latitude  and 
longitude  made  on  hoard  the  floip  Solide,  in 
the  courfe  of  her  Voyage  round  the  World, 
ferving  to  determine  the  changes  occafioned  by 
the  Currents  in  the  apparent  courfe  and  rate 
of  failing  of  the  fhip,  in  the  different  tracts 
of  fea  which  fhe  crojfed,  as  well  as  the  error 
in  the  calculation  of  the  dead  reckoning  in 


the  interval  of  the  obfervations,  and  at  the 
period  of  each  land-fall   314 

Ift,  i2t7A%    From  the  Strait  ^^/^  Gibraltar  to  the 

Cape  àt  Y  tvà  Iflands   321 

a  3  Note 


vi  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Note!,  i^th  December  I'j^o   321 

II.    5/^  January   1791   322 

III.  ^th  ditto   .  328 

IV.  i/^th  ditto   329 

Ilnd.  Run.  From  the  Cape  de  Verd  IJlands  to 

within  fight  of  Staten  Land   331 

•  Note  V.  i%th  January    ib. 

VÎ.    Gth  February   334 

VII.    ']th^  Zthy  and  (^th  ditto   335 

Vni.  11th  ditto    336 

IX.  iÇh  ditto,..,   337 

X.  i6th  ditto   ib. 

XL  2 ^th  ditto   339' 

XII.  ^thy  ^th  and  10th  of  March  . .  343 

XIII.  loth^  11  thy  iithy  and  i^th  ditto  349 
XrV.  i2dy  and  ^yd March  1791  ....  352 

XV.  it^th  ditto   354 

XVI.  2'-ith  ditto. .   ib. 

XVII.  i%th  ditto   355 

XVIII.  loth  ditto   356 

XIX.    1/  April    357 

^ABLE  of  Comparifon  of  the  progrefs  in  longi- 
tude deduced  from  the  obfervationSy  With  that 
given  by  the  dead  reckoning  in  the  Run  from 
the   Cape   de   Verd  Iflands   to  Staten 


Land  (facing  362 


IlIrd  Run,    From  Staten  Land  to  the  Mar- 

quefas  dc  Mendoqa     364 

Note 


CONTENTS.  vîi 

PAGE 

NûUXX,  iith  of  April   364 

XXI.  i^tb  ditto   365 

XXIL  2^th  and  a^tb  ditto   367 

XXIIL    ^th  and  ^th  May   370 

XXIV.  iitb  ditto  179 1   ;   371 

XXV.  2yd  ditto   372 

XXVI.  24//^,  içby  26tb  and  2^tb  ditto  373 

XXVII.    etb,  ^tby  and  Ub  of  June   376 

XXVII L  \otb  ditto   377 

XXIX.  iitb  and  iitb  ditto  378 

Table  of  tbe  Errors  of  tbe,  Dead  Reckoning 

in  tbe  Ilird  Run     382 

XXX.  Geograpbical  pojition  of  tbe  Mar- 
quefas  de  Mendoça,  according  to 
tbe  ohfervations  made  in  Cook's 
Second  Voyage   383 

IV th  Run,    From  tbe  Iflands  called  Las  Mar*- . 
quefas  de  Mendoça  to  tbe  North-weft  coafi 

of  America   385 

JVb/^XXXI.  22nd  June   ib. 

XXXII.  2^tb^ditto                            . .  386 

XXXIII.  2  ^tb  ditto   ..'   ib. 

XXXIV.  2,^tb  ditto   387 

XXXV.  2yd July    391 

XKXVI.  2^tb  ditto    39^2 

XXXVII.  2(>tb  ditto   393 

XXXVIII.         ^^K^fi    it). 

XXXIX.  ^  ^tb  ditto    394 

a  4  Table 


Via  CONTENTS. 


PAGt 

Table  of  the  Errors  of  the  Dead  Reckoning  in 
thelVth  Run     398 

Vth  Run.    From  the  North- weft  coafl  of 

America /(?  the  Sandwich  Iflands   403 

Note  XL.  i\fi  Auguft   ib. 

XLI.  23ri  ditto    404 

X Lll.    I fi  September   405 

XLIII.    /s^th  ditto   406 

XLIV.    Zth  ditto   407 

XLV.  i^th  ditto   ib. 

XLVL  21/  ditto   40S 

XLVII.  ^2^^  ^^^^^  •  •  •  *   409 

XLVIII.  30/^  September   ib. 

XLIX.    1/  October   410 

L.    yd  ditto   ib. 

LI.    ^th  ditto    411 

Table  of  the  Errors  of  the  Dead  Reckoning 

in  the  Vth  Run                           (facing)  4 14 

VIch  Run.    From  the  Sandwich  Iflands  to  the 

Mary-Anne  Iflands  and  to  Macao    416 

Note  LIL    7/^  OBober   ib. 

LIIL  I ^th  ditto   417 

LIV,  iQth  ditto    418 

LV.  2yd  ditto   ib. 

LVL    ind  November   419 

LVII.    ^th  ditto    420 

LVIII.  I  Gth  ditto    423 

LIX.  i8/i?  ditto    424 


Table 


CONTENTS.  IX 

PAGT 

TjBLE  of  the  Errors  of  the  Dead  Reckoning  in 
the  Vlth  Run   428 

Vllth  Run,   From  Macao  to  the  IJle    France  430 
Note  hX.  uth  of  December.    For  the  geo- 
graphical pofitions  of  Macao,  Pu- 
io-Condore,  Pulo-Aor  and  Pulo- 

Sapata   ib. 

LXI.  ReMification  of  the  chart  of  the 

China  Sea   451 

LXIl.  iifi^iinày  and  lyd ditto.  Oh-- 
Jervations  and  Bearings  taken  in 
Gafpar'j  Strait  \  and 

An  A  LYSIS  of  the  general  chart  of  the  two  Straits 
fituated  between  the  Ifland  of  Banca  and  that 
of  Billiton,  known  by  the  name  of  Gafpar*j 
Strait,  and  Clennents'  Strait^  with  failing 
direEîions  relative  to  the  two  fajfages   ....  456 
Of  the  various  charts  of  thefe  Straits^  fublijhed  ' 

or  known  to  this  day   4^7 

Of  the  Weji  Pajfage  or  Gafpar'j  Strait   461 

Breakers  to  the  northward  (p/*  Banca   ib. 

To  fix  the  latitude  of  Gafpar  Jfland   465 

Of  its  longitude   472 

Pofîtion  of  the  Warren  HaftingsV  Shoal  ....  474 
Of  other  Shoals  to  the  north-weft  and  to  the  north 

of  Gafpar  Ifland  . .  >   48 1 

Pofîtion  of  the  Ëaft  Point  of  Banca  in  regard  to 

other  points  ,   494 

Of 


3C  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Of  its  latitude  ,  49 j 

To  fix  hy  approximation  the  pofttion  of  the  Moun- 
tain ferving  as  a  land-mark  on  Banca   497 

Pofîtion  of  Middle  IJland  in  regard  to  other 

points   499 

Pofîtion  of  the  iflands  in  the  Bay  or  Gulf  fituated 

to  the  northward  of  the  Peninfula  of  Sel  .  .  503 
Pofîtion  of  the  North-eaft^f/;^/^/?/^  the  Peninfula 

in  regard  to  other  points   506 

Bearing  of  the  eàfi  coafi  of  the  Peninfula  ....  509 
Shoals  and  Breakers  tc  the  north-eajl  of  the 

i^onh.'t2i?i point  of  the  Vtnmï}A2i   512 

Of  the  tivo  Groups  of  fmall  iflands  which  form 
the  Paffages  of  Clements'  Straits \  the  poft- 
tion of  the  one  in  regard  to  the  other ^  and  of 
the  iflands  between  them,  —  Of  the  known 

Shoals  in  this  part   514 

Pofîtion  of  the  lies  de  la  ReconnoifTance  (Shoal- 
water  IJland)  and  of  the  Shoals  fituated  to  the 

fouthward  of  the  SlYdiits   538 

Of  the  different  Tracks  of  jhips  marked  on  the 
chart   545 

Sailing  DiREcrioNSy  and  Nautical  Re- 
marks for  the  Navigation  of  the  Straits, 

J.  General  Remarks  on  making  the  land  y  in 
coming  to  the  Straits  from  the  north- 
wardand  on  the  Navigation  in  Gaf- 

par'j  Strait^  or  the  Weft  Paflfage   551 

I.  General 


CONTENTS.  xi 

PAOB 

2.  Breakers  to  the  northward  of  the  Northern 

Coaft  of  Banca   5S^ 

3 .  Breakers  to  the  north  by  weft  <?/*Gafpar  IJland 

and  of  the  Warren  Haftings'^  ShoaL  .  557 

4.  Gafpar  Ifland  and  the  Rock  to  the  weftward 

of  that  Ifland   561 

5.  Tree  Ifland,  the  Rocher-Navirc  of  the 

French   562 

6.  Pajfage  between  Caspar  Ifland  and  Tree 

(Rocher-Navire)    565 

7.  The  Mountain  ferving  as  a  land -mark  on 

.Banca,  {called  by  the  Malays  Tanjong 
Brekac)   ...  567 

8.  Eaft  Point  of  Banca   .   569 

9.  Middle  or  PaiTage  Ifland^  Jometimes  called 

Long  Ifland  (by  the  Malays  Pulo-Leat)  570 

10.  Peninfula  of  Sel   572 

11.  South  coaft  of  Banca   577 

12.  Irregularity  of  the  foundings  to  the  fouth- 

ward  of  the  Straits    5  80 

13.  0/ Clements'  SrRAiror  the  Eafl:  Paflage, 

in  coming  from  the  fouthwardy  or  in 
coming  from  the  northward   5S2 

14.  The  Strait  between  Banca  and  Billiton  to 

be  preferred  to  the  Strait  ^  Banca  . .  588 

N,  B,  The fufplement  to  this  Analysis  is 
to  be  found  at  the  end  of  this  volume, 
page()2T. 

4  Vlllth 


Xil  CONTENTS. 

PAei 

Vlllth  Run.    From  the  Ifle  (9f  Reunion  to  the 

Ijland  of  St.  Helena   591 

Note  LXIir   ib. 

LXIV   593 

LXV.   ib. 

LXVI  595 

LXVII   ..........  596 

LXVIII   597 

LXÎX   598 

LXX   599 

LXXI.    ....  . .  60J 

LXXII    ib. 

LXXin.   601 

LXXIV   ib. 

Tjble  of  the  Errors  of  the  Dead  Reckoning 
in  the  Vlllth  Run    605 

IX th  and  Last  Run.    From  the  Ijland  of  Sr. 
Helena  to  the  Strait  of  Gibraltar  and  to 

Toulon   608 

Note  LXXV   ib. 

LXXVÎ.   612 

LXXVII   614 

LXXVIK   616 

LXXIX   618 

LXXX   620 

Table  of  the  Errors  of  the  Dead  Reckoning 

in  the  laft  Run   622 

Table  of  the  effeEl  of  the  Currents  on  the  Courfe 

and 


CONTENTS.  XIU 

PAGl 

and  Rate  of  failing  of  the  Solide  y  according 
to  the  ohfervations  of  Latitude  and  Longitude ^ 
made  on  hoard  the  Ship  in  the  courfe  of  her 
Voyage  Round  the  World,  in  1790,  179 1> 
and  1792  ,   624 

Additions  to  the  Refults  of  the  Ohfervations 
for  the  Latitude  and  Longitude, 

For  the  Analyfts  of  the  general  Chart  of  the  two 
Straits  fituated  between  the  Ifland  of  Banca 

and  that  of  Billiton   627 

For  Clements*  Strait   640 

Remarks  on  the  courfe  to  he  held  on  coming  cut 
of  the  SrRjirS)  when  hound  to  the  fouthwardy 
after  paffmg  the  parallel  of  the  South-east 
Point  of  Banca   644 

Remarks  on  GafparV  Strait  647 

Note  for  the  Straits  to  th^  Eafl  cf  'ï^mc^i  ...  655 

Journal  of  the  Route  of  the  Ship  Solide, 
during  her  Voyage  round  the  World ,  in  1790, 
17  9 1  and  1792  ,   X 


ERRATUM. 

1 6,  Note  +,  for  Plate  F»  read  Plate  Vî. 


A 

VOYAGE 
ROUND   THE  JFORLD, 

DURING  THE  YEARS  179O,   179I,  and  I792. 


CHAPTER  Vir. 

Passage  from  the  North-weft  G?^/  of  America 
to  the  Sandwich  IJlands,  —  Captain  Marchand 
provides  himfef  with  refrefoments  there,  without 
anchoring.  —  Inquiries  concerning  the  quejiion.  To 
whom  belongs  the  firft  difcovery  of  thefe  ijlands  ? — 
The  perpendicular  height  of  fome  of  the  mountains 
of  thefe  ijlands  determined  by  approximation, — Run 
from  the  Sandwich  Ijlands  to  Macao,  through  the 
Archipelago  of  the  Mary-Anne  Iflands,— Occur 
fences  at  Macao. — The  introduction  of  furs  into 
China,  by  the  fouthern  ports,  had  juji  been  pro- 
hibited,— General  confiderations  refpe5fing  the  pre- 
fent  ft  ate  of  the  fur-trade,  and  what  may  be  expe^ed 
from  it  in  future, 

rjpHE  run  from  the  coafi;  of  America  to  the 
Sandwich  IQands  is  equally  deftitute  of  in- 
tereft  and  variety:  Captain  Marchand  and  Cap- 
tain Chanal  made  it  their  conftant  bufincfs  to 
VOL.  11.  B  afcertain 


2 


marchand's  voyage.       [Sept.  1751. 


afcertain  by  frequent  obfervations  of  the  moon's 
diftance  from  the  fun,  and  by  the  daily  obferva- 
tion  of  the  meridian  altitude  of  this  latter  luminary, 
what  was  the  gradual  progrefs  of  the  fhip  in  lon- 
gitude and  latitude  -,  and  by  this  feries  of  obferva- 
tions, they  were  confident  of  making  a  more  direél 
courfe,  and  of  precifely  hitting  the  iflands  which 
it  was  intended  to  make.  In  this  run,  as  well  as 
in  all  thofe  which  had  preceded  it,  they  never 
negleéled  to  determine  the  variation  of  the  mag- 
netic needle,  as  frequently  as  the  weather  would 
allow,  either  by  azimuths,  or  by  eafterly  or  wefterly 
amplitudes.  The  refults  of  their  different  obfer- 
vations are  to  be  found  in  the  Ilotes  that  accom- 
pany this  narrative,  and  in  the  Journal  of  the 
RourEy  which  prefents  the  data  of  the  calcula-^ 
tion*. 

I  ihall  content  myfelf  with  mentioning  two  re- 
marks, which  might  give  rife  to  a  prefumption 
of  the  exiftence  of  fome  iflands  that  have  not  yet 
been  perceived,  or  rather  met  with  again. 

In  the  night  between  the  14th  and  15th,  there 
was  taken  v^ath  the  hand,  a  fmall  land-hudy  fpent 
with  fatigue,  which  had  fettled  on  one  of  the 
yards.  The  latitude  of  the  fhip,  at  this  period, 
was  40°  15',  and  her  longitude,  correding  it  by 
the  obfervations  made  five  days  after,  muft  havp 

*  See,  towards  the  end  of  this  Volume,  Notes  XLV  to  LI, 
and  the  Journal  of  the  Route  at  the  dates  of  the  obfervations 
©f  which  the  Notes  prefent  the  calculation  and  the  refults. 

been 


.Sept.  1791.]         MARCHAND'S  VOYAGE.  '  3 

been  about  133°  45'*  The  neareft  known  lands, 
thofe  which  lie  to  the  northward  of  Cape  Men- 
docino, were  diftant  from  the  fhip  about  a  hun- 
dred and  twenty  leagues  to  the  eaftward.  This 
diftance  of  a  hundred  and  twenty  leagues  is  very 
confiderable  for  a  fmall  land-bird,  unlefs  it  was  of 
the  fpecies  of  thofe  which,  as  is  related  of  fwal- 
lows,  although  belonging  to  the  land,  contrive  to 
rell  themfelves  on  the  water,  when  the  length  of 
the  pafTage  exceeds  the  ftrength  of  their  wings. 
However,  it  would  not  be  aftonifhing  that,  in  lati- 
tudes hitherto  little  frequented,  there  fhould  exift 
fome  fmall  iflands  which,  not  being  placed  within 
reach  of  the  tracks  that  have  been  followed  by 
the  known  navigators  of  thefe.  latter  times,  might 
not  have  been  perceived  ;  yet  fuch  iflands  might 
have  afforded  a  retreat  to  thefe  little  birds  which, 
being  granivorous,  or  living  on  terreftrial  infedls, 
could  not  fubfift  on  the  water,  and  are  obliged  to 
go  and  feek  their  food  on  the  land.  It  might 
happen  too  that  the  Spaniards,  in  their  ancient 
expeditions,  had  difcovered  in  thefe  latitudes,  fome 
iflands  with  which  they  muft  have  been  acquainted 
before  other  nations  j  but  it  is  probable  that  we 
fhall  have  no  knowledge  of  the  exiflence  of  any, 
and  that  we  fliall  not  afcertain  where  they  are 
fituated,  till  chance  fliall  have  led  fome  navigators, 
of  a  nation  more  communicative  than  that  which 
made  the  firft  difcoveries,  to  find  them  again. 

B  2  The 


4 


marchand's  voyage.       [Sept.  1791» 


The  fequel  of  the  Solide's  voyage  furniilies 
us  with  a  fécond  remark  of  the  fame  kind. 

On  the  1 8th  of  September,  in  the  afternoon,  the 
{hip  had  reached  the  latitude  of  32°  30^  north,  and 
the  longitude  of  about  139''  weft:  this  poiition 
compared  to  that  of  the  two  neareft  lands,  placed 
her  three  hundred  and  feventy  leagues  from  the 
Sandwich  Iflands,  and  three  hundred  and  thirty 
from  Drake's  New  Albion. 

It  was  at  this  diftance  from  known  lands,  that  a 
fmall  land- bird,  of  the  fpecies  of  the  canary,  was 
feen  to  alight  on  one  of  the  fliip's  yards.  It  could 
not  be  fuppofed  that  fo  fmall  a  bird  could  have 
come  even  from  the  neareft  known  land,  that  is  to 
fay,  that  it  could  have  made,  all  at  one  flight,  â 
pafîage  of  three  hundred  and  thirty  marine  leagues  : 
it  was  therefore  prefumed  that,  in  the  north-eaft 
quarter,  whence  the  wind  blew,  there  exifts  fome 
ifland,  ftill  unknown  to  modern  navigators,  to  which 
this  little  bird  belonged. 

I  have  looked  whether  fome  ancient  navigator 
might  not  indicate  to  us  in  this  latitude,  fome 
foiitary  iftand  that  had  not  yet  been  found  again  : 
I  fee  on  the  Manilla  galleon's  chart,  conftrudled 
from  the  private  memoirs  of  the  Spaniards,  which 
Commodore  Anson  feized  upon,  in  1743,  when 
he  took  pofieflion  of  that  ftiip,  and  which  he  has 
fince  publiftied  in  the  account  of  his  voyage  round 
the  world  ;  I  fay,  I  fee  a  fmall  ifland  under  the 
Dame  of  IsLA  DE  LOS  Paxaros  ( JJland  of  Birds 

fituated 


Sept.  1791.]      marchand's  voyage. 


5 


fituated  in  about  26®  30'  north  latitude^  and  11^  30' 
to  the  weftward  of  San  Joseph  in  California, 
or  about  134°  30'  weft  from  Paris*.  This  por- 
tion is  lefs  to  the  northward  by  6^,  and  4°  30'  lefs 
to  the  weftward,  than  that  of  the  ftiip  which,  con- 
fequently,  was  one  hundred  and  forty-three  leagues 
to  the  north-v/eft  by  north  of  this  point.  A  fmall 
bird  could  not  have  maintained  its  flight  towards 
the  north-weft,  in  fo  long  a  paftage,  with  the  wind 
at  norch-eaft  :  which  muft  lead  us  to  conclude 
that,'  if  the  IQand  of  Los  Paxaros  exifts,  as  we 
may  believe,  and  if  the  little  bird  came  from  it, 
this  iftand  is  not  properly  laid  down  on  the  chart 
of  the  galleon. 

The  general  chart  of  Captain  Cook^s  third 
voyage,  places  it  in  the  latitude  of  26°  30',  like 
that  of  the  galleon,  and  in  the  longitude  of  137°  20' ^ 
I  know  not  on  what  authority.  This  fituation  would 
bring  it  nearer  to  that  of  the  Solide,  which  would 
be  at  no  greater  diftance  than  one  hundred  and 
twenty -three  leagues  and  a  half  to  the  north  13 
or  14°  weft  of  itf .    The  paffage  will,  no  doubt, 

B  3  spP^^J^ 

*  According  to  the  obfervations  of  the  Abbé  Chappe^  in 
1769,  San  Jofeph  is  ii2°  2'  30"  weft  from  Paris  (Voyage  en 
Californie^  Paris,  Jomhert,  1772,  4to.  page  85  to  88.) 

+  In  preferving  to  the  latitude  of  the  Ifland  of  Loi  Paxaros 
the  latitude  affigned  to  it  by  the  galleon's  chart,  fome  geogra- 
phical calculations  had  led  me  to  place  it  in  longitude  1 39°  40', 
on  the  charts  which  were  conftruéled  in  1785,  and  added  to  the 
inftrudions  given  to  La  Peroufe  to  dired  him  in  his  voyage 

round 


6 


MARCH  AN  d's  VOYAGE. 


[Sept.  1791 


appear  ftill  too  long  for  a  Canary-hirâ,  efpecially 
when  it  is  not  wafted  by  a  favourable  wind  which 
fupports  its  flight,  but,  on  the  contrary,  has  to 
ftruggle  againft  a  ftrcng  refiftance. 

Ali  that  it  is  allowable  to  conclude  from  this 
difcufllon,  is,  that  it  is  very  probable  that  the 
Spaniards  have  formerly  feen  an  ifland  in  a  lati- 
tude which  is  not  very  remote  from  the  fituation 
occupied  by  the  Solide  on  the  afternoon  of  the 
1 8th  of  September  ;  and  that  this  ifland  muft  have 
been  diftinguifhed  by  the  multiplicity  of  its  birds, 
lince  the  navigator,  who  difcovered  it,  impofed  on 
it  the  name  of  Isla  de  los  Paxaros  :  but,  at 
prefent,  what  is  the  true  pofition  of  this  ifland  P 
This  is  a  problem  which  I  leave  to  be  fclved 
by  navigators  who,  in  the  fequel,  may  frequent 
thefe  feas:  I  could  only  point  ^out  to  them  the 
poflibility  of  a  difcovery.    We  muft,  however, 
here  recall  to  mind  the  ftory  of  the  golden  tooth^x 
might  it  not  really  happen  that  this  little  bird, 
whofe  unexpected  appearance  leads  the  geogra- 
pher into  diflertations,  was  nothing  more  than  a 
canary  that  had,  perhaps,  belonged  to  a  fliip  paf-  | 

round  the  world.  If  we  give  this  pofition  to  the  illand,  the 
Soltdey  on  the  i8th  of  September,  was  diftant  from  it  one  hun- 
dred and  fifteen  leagues  to  the  north  5°  weft. 

*  After  feme  of  the  greateft  naturalifts  and  philofophers  in 
Europe  had  been  long  employed  in  endeavouring  to  account  5 
for  the  exiftence  of  a  golden  tooth  in  a  living  fubjed,  they  at 
length  difcovered,  with  wonderful  fagacity,  that  the  tooth  was  a 
falfe  one. — Tranjlator's  Note.  j 

fmg  I 


Sept.  1791.]         MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  7 

fing  by,  from  which  it  might  have  made  its 
efcape  ? 

On  the  2ift  of  September,  our  voyagers  began 
to  fee  tropic-birds  and  quei^ranta-bue/fos  or  gmnt- 
petrels*. 

On  the  3rd  of  061:ober,  at  half  pad  two  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon,  the  longitude  of  the  fliip,  de- 
duced from  a  mean  between  two  fets  of  lunar 
obfervations, -was  i55°i7'3o'^  and  the  latitude 
obferved  at  noon,  and  reduced  to  the  period  of 
the  obfervations  for  the  longitude,  was  19°  13^30'' 
north  :  according  to  this  pofidon,  the  eaft  point  of 
O-Whyhee,  the  largeft  and  the  moft  eaftern  of 
the  Sandwich  îflands,  muft  have  borne  weft  by 
north,  at  the  diftance  of  thirty- fix  leagues  ;  and 
Captain  Marchand  might  promife  himfelf  to 
have  fight  of  it  the  next  day  in  the  courfe  of  the 
forenoon. 

He  navigated  during  the  night  with  the  precau- 
tions required  by  the  fearch  of  land,  without  grant- 
ing to  the  refult  of  the  aftronomical  obfervations, 
a  degree  of  precifion  above  that  which  is  admitted 
by  the  method  employed  for  determining  the  lon- 
gitude, and  allowing  fomething  for  the  uncertainty 
which  always  remains  refpedling  the  eftimate  of 
the  portion  of  the  way  that  a  navigator  is  obliged 
to  introduce  into  the  calculation,  from  the  time  of 
his  laft  obfervation  till  he  gets  fight  of  the  land. 


*  FfoceUar'ta  glgantea,  Latham,— -Tr<z/j/7<z/(7r« 

B  4  The 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.         [OEt.  I79I. 


The  next  day,  the  4th,  at  ten  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  O-Whybee  was  difcovered  as  Captain 
Marchand  had  expeded  :  it  bore  from  weft  by 
north  to  north-weft  by  weft  ;  and  he  crowded  fail 
in  that  diredion. 

At  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  the  ftiip  was 
cxa6lly  under  the  meridian  of  the  moft  eaftern 
point  of  the  ifland,  which,  according  to  the  obfer- 
vations  made  on  board  the  Resolution  and  the 
Discovery,  in  Captain  Cook's  third  voyage'*,  is 
fjtuated  in  157°  10'  15"  weft  from  Paris  :  the  longi- 
tude of  the  fhip  deduced  from  the  obfervations  of 
the  preceding  day,  was  157°  1':  thus,  the  error 
on  making  the  land  was  only  9  minutes,  or  fome- 
•what  lefs  than  three  leagues  5  and  it  is  to  be  ob- 
ferved  that  thefe  9  minutes  of  error  may  belong 
to  the  portion  of  the  way  that  our  navigators  were 
obliged  to  eftimate,  from  noon  of  the  3rd,  to  which 
the  lunar  obfervation  had  been  reduced,  to  the 
time  of  taking  the  bearing  of  the  eaft  point  of  the 
Ifland  of  O-WHYHEE-j-. 

As  for  the  longitude  by  account  at  the  time  of 
making  the  land,  fuch  as  it  was  deduced  from  the 
dead  reckoning  from  the  Solide's  point  of  de- 
parture off  Berkley  Sound,  it  was  found  to  be 
f 

*  The  original  ajironomical  Ohjernjatiom  made  in  the  courfe 
of  a  Voyage  to  the  Northern  Pacifc  Ocean 3  ^c.  By  W.  Bayly. 
London^  ^'j^i.J^io.  page  350. 

+  See  Note  LL 


m 


OB:.  1791.]        MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE, 


9 


in  error  1°  32'  45"  or  twenty-nine  leagues  ahead; 
but  this  error  would  have  been  greater  by  thirty-* 
fix  minutes^  or  eleven  leagues  and  one  third,  if  the 
fum  of  the  errors  ajlern  had  not  balanced  part  of 
the  fum  of  the  errors  made  in  a  contrary  direc- 
tion*. 

In  the  morning  of  the  5th,  the  Ifland  of 
O-Whyhee,  being  free  from  the  clouds  which, 
the  day  before,  covered  a  part  of  it,  (hewed  itfelf 
plainly  :  Mowna-Roa  and  Mowna-Kaa,  two 
moft  remarkable  mountains,  fituated  in  the  interior 
of  the  ifiand,  the  former  and  the  higheft,  towards 
the  fouth,  the  latter,  towards  the  north-eaft  quarter, 
were  diftin6lly  feen  :  but  no  fnow  was  perceived  on 
any  of  the  moft  elevated  points  that  prefented 
themfelves  to  the  view.  This  remark  does  not' 
accord  with  what  Captain  King  fays  in  Cook's 
third  voyage,  that  the  fummits  of  thefe  moun- 
tains are  conftantly  buried  in  Jncw  •\  :  it  appears  that 
*he  was  wrong  to  infer  their  habitual  and  conftant 
ftate,  from  that  in  which  he  faw  them  in  the  month 
of  March,  that  is  to  fay,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
fpring;  it  is  certain  that  the  French  who  faw 
them  not  till  the  beginning  of  the  autumn,  per- 
ceived no  fnow  on  any  part  of  them.  But,  doubt- 
lefs,  in  the  latitude  of  19°  north,  the  fummerfuns 
muft  produce  a  change,  in  the  interval  from  the 
month  of  March  to  the  month  of  Odober. 


*  See  Note  LI. 


+  Vol.  Ill,  page  103. 

When 


lO 


marqhand's  voyage.      ^OB.,  1791. 


When  the  mountains,  difengaged  from  clouds, 
were  diftindly  difcerned  from  the  Solide,  ihe  was 
at  the  diftance  of  five  leagues  from  the  fouth-eaft 
coaft.  In  this  fituation,  Mowna-Roa  fliews 
itfelf  in  a  manner  particularly  remarkable,  becaufe 
its  fummit,  which  extends  on  an  eaft  and  weft  line, 
forms  a  lengthened  platform,  in  the  fhape  of  a  long 
dining-table  ;  and  from  this  flat  fummit,  its  sides 
ftretch  by  a  gentle  declivity  till  they  meet  the  fea- 
fhore. 

At  eleven  o*clock,  the  fhip  doubled  the  fouth 
fide  of  O-Whyhee. 

Towards  noon.  Captain  Marchand  (hortened 
fail,  in  order  to  wait  for  a  canoe  that  was  fteering 
for  the  ftiip  :  in  it  were  three  iflanders  ;  but  they 
had  only  fome  fifli,  which  was,  much  to  their  fatis- 
fa6lion,  paid  for  with  a  nail. 

The  Sandwich  Iflands  are  too  well  known  by 
the  voyages  of  Cook,  Portlock,  Dixon,  Meares, 
Douglas,  and  other  Englifli  navigators  who  have 
frequented  them  ;  and  La  Pe'rouse*s  journal  will 
add  too  many  details  to  thofe  which  we  already 
poffefs,  for  me  to  think  it  neceflary  to  dwell  on 
what  concerns  their  foil  and  inhabitants  :  the  Ifland 
of  O-Whyhee,  in  particular,  has  acquired  a  de- 
plorable celebrity  -,  it  bears  a  fpot  of  blood  which 
ages  will  not  efface*, 

*  It  is  well  known  tliat  Captain  Cook  was  maflacred  in  this 
ifland. 


Thçfe 


O^.  1791-]      marchand's  voyage. 


Thefe  iflands  may  be  confidered  as  a  large  cara- 
vanjary^  placed  on  the  route  of  the  fhips  which 
crofs  the  Great  Ocean  between  the  parts  of 
Asia  and  America  fituated  to  th^  northward  of 
the  line.    Several  of  the  navigators  who  have 
made  them  of  late  years,  have,  through  the  me- 
dium of  canoes,  without  landing,  and  while  under 
fail,  procured  the  refrefhments,  and  even  the  water 
and  wood,  with  which  they  wifhed  to  be  fupplied. 
The  danger  incurred,  a  few  years  ago,  by  an  Eng- 
lifh  captain,  who,  through  a  concerted  piece  of 
treachery,  had  like  to  have  loll  there  both  his 
crew  and  his  velTel,  ought  to  render  circumfpedb 
thofe  that  may  be  induced  to  prefent  themfelves 
with  ftrength  which  would  not  be  fufEcient  for 
awing  the  natives  or  repelling  an  attack.    We  can 
only  recommend  the  Europeans  who  frequent  the 
Great  Ocean,  not  to  anchor  at  thefe  iflands,  but 
to  receive  from  the  canoes,  thofe  provifions  which 
the  iflanders  will  always  be  eager  to  bring  to  them 
on  board.    The  health  of  the  crews  has  every 
thing  to  lofe,  if  they  go  on  fhore  ;  and  the  natives 
have  nothing  to  gain,  for  the  prefervation  of  their 
race,  by  ,a  too  immediate  communication  with  the 
feamen  of  civilized  nations. 

Captain  Marchand  formed  the  prudent  refolu- 
tion  of  making  all  his  purchafes  under  fail,  and 
confined  himfelf  to  trading  with  the  Ifland  of 
O-Whyhee  alone,  which  was  fufficient  for  all  his 
wants.  Thence  he  procured  hogs,  a  fmall  quan- 
tity 


12 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.         [061.  1791. 


tity  of  poultry  (fowls  were  fcarce  and  dear},  co- 
coa-nuts, plantains,  fweet  potatoes,  yams,  fugar- 
canes,  and  the  other  fruits  and  produclions  natural 
to  thefe  iflands.  It  muft  have  been  an  agreeable 
furprife,  to  fee  that,  with  the  indigenous  produc- 
tions, were  mixed  pumpkins  and  water-melons, 
fruits  of  a  fpecies  which,  not  belonging  to  the 
foil  of  the  Sandwich  Iflands,  muft  have  come 
from  the  feeds  fown  by  the  Englifh  or  by  La  Pe'- 
RousE.  More  prudent,  or  lefs  improvident  than 
the  inhabitants  of  the  iflands  fituated  fouth  of  the 
line,  thofe  of  the  iflands  north  of  it  have  been 
fenfible  of  what  utility  it  would  be  to  them  to 
multiply  this  new  mean  of  fubfiftence  :  and  the 
Europeans,  in  making  to  the  Sandwich  Iflands 
this  ufeful  prefent  have,  by  an  a6l  of  beneficence, 
ferved  their  own  intereft  for  the  future. 

It  was  remarked  that  the  canoes  which  came 
from  O-Whyhee  to  traffic  with  the  fliip,  never 
failed  to  bring  women  intermingled  with  the  hogs, 
and  offered  them,  conjointly  with  the  filthy  animal, 
among  the  refrefhments  which  the  natives  pro- 
pofed  to  the  itrangersi'  however,  the  Solide's 
crew  were  prudent  enough  to  content  themfelvcs 
with  the  eatables. 

Surgeon  Rob  let  obferves  that  the  hogs  ap- 
peared to  him  to  be  of  two  fpecies  :  the  mofl 
numerous  and  the  fmalleft  is  that  defcribed  by 
Captain  Cook,  and  by  Captain  King,  who  con- 
tinued his  narrative  -,  the  only  one,  no  doubt,  with 
3  which 


0£i.  1791.]         MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


which  they  were  acquainted  :  the  other,  lefs  com- 
mon, is  of  a  largelizcj  and  the  French  lobferver 
is  inclined  to  think  that  this  is  the  former  fpecies, 
improved  by  a  mixture  with  fome  European  hogs. 
Without  wifliing  precifeiy  to  combat  this  opinion, 
I  ihdl  only  fay  that  it  feems  to  me  by  no  means 
probable  that  the  Europeans  have  ever  thought  of 
depofiting  hogs  on  iflands  where  they  have  found 
them  fo  numerous,  and  where  they  did  not  arrive 
till  after  long  voyages  which,  doubtlefs,  had  not 
allowed  them  to  make  any  favings  out  of  their 
•provifions.  The  fame  obferver  endeavours  to  de- 
Uroy  an  opinion  which  the  Englifh  voyagers  appear 
to  have  eftablilhed,  that  the  hogs  of  the  Sandwich 
Iflands  cannot  live  on  fhipboard,  and  that,  in  order 
not  to  lofe  them,  it  is  neceffary  to  make  haile 
to  kill  and  fait  them*  :  on  this  fubje6b,  he  relates 
that,  out  of  fifty  of  thefe  animals  which  were  kept 
alive  on  board  of  the  Solide,  not  one  refufed 
to  take  nourifhment  :  and  thofe  which  were  not 
killed  till  after  having  been  fevcral  days  at  fea,  had 

*  Captain  King  has  moft  minutely  deifcribed  the  particular 
method  which  Captain  Cook  firft  put  in  pradice  to  fucceed  in 
falting  pork  in  the  countries  fituated  between  the  tropics,  where 
putréfaction  makes  its  appearance  fo  quickly,  that  vain  would 
be  the  attempt  to  fait  down  provifions  in  employing  only  the 
ordinary  procefs.  Captain  Fortlock  and  Captain  Meares  have 
iikewife  explained  the  methods  which  they  themfelves  have 
praélifed  with  fuccefs  ;  thefe  differ  little  from  that  of  Captain 
C(?<7i.— (See  Cook's  Third  Voyage^  Vol.  III.  pages  11  and  12 — - 
Portlock's  Vojç-gey  pages  88  to  ^q— Meares' s  Voyages^  page  277,) 

by 


14  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.         [0£l.  l/gi. 

by  no  means  wafted  away,  and  appeared  to  be  in 
full  as  good  condition  as  when  they  had  been  taken 
on  board. 

-  Iron  is  almoft  the  only  article  which  the  natives 
chofe  to  accept  in  exchange  for  their  provifions» 
They  fet  a  great  value  on  large  fpikes  ;  but  it  is 
difficult  to  paint  the  tranfports  of  their  joy,  when, 
in  the  room  of  three  or  four  nails,  a  large  joiner*s 
plane  was  given  them  as  the  price  of  one  of  their 
largeft  hogs:  they  muft  already  know  for  how 
many  ufes  this  tool  can  be  employed. 

The  paffion  of  thefe  people  for  iron  is  of  no 
recent  date  ;  for  it  appears  that  on  the  firft  vifix 
which  they  received  from  the  Europeans  in  1778, 
they  were  already  acquainted  with  the  utility  of 
this  metal;  and  they  expreffed  the  greateft  eager- 
nefs  to  acquire  it.  It  might  thence  be  conjedlured 
that  the  hazards  of  navigation,  the  fhipwreck  of 
fome  veffel  coming  from  America  and  run  afliore 
on  their  iflands,  gave  them  in  more  ancient  times 
a  knowledge  of  iron  ;  and  that,  having  experi- 
enced, by  ufe,  the  fuperiority  of  this  metal  to  hard 
ftones,  the  fragments  of  fliells^  bones  of  animals, 
&c.  for  making  tools  and  weapons,  it  is,  of  all 
European  merchandife,  become  that  which  muft 
have  moft  excited  their  wifties.  Surgeon  Roblet 
remarked,  however,  that,  among  a  rather  confi- 
derable  number  of  iflanders  who  came  to  traffic  on 
board  of  the  Solide,  and  with  whom  our  voyagers 
kept  up  a  communication  in  their  canoes,  they 


Oft.  tjgi.']      marchand's  voyage.  15 

law  not  in  the  hands  of  any  one  of  them,  a  fingle 
weapon,  or  implement  made  of  iron.  It  would 
be  a  matter  of  curiofity  to  know  for  what  ufe  and 
how  they  employ  thofe  large  fpikes,  thofe  pieces 
of  bar  or  Ihcet  iron  which  they  feek  after  with 
fuch  avidity.  It  is  not  probable  that  they  have 
already  found  out  the  manner  of  fafhioning  thefe  ; 
and  although  the  firft  Englifh  fliips  that  vifited 
them  may  poflibly  have  given  them  fomc  idea  of 
the  labours  of  the  forge,  this  fimple  notion  falls 
far  fhort  of  the  employment  of  the  means  ;  a  man 
is  not  a  fmith  from  having  feen  fmith's  work  ex- 
ecuted. If,  in  the  fequel,  European  navigators 
fliould  continue  to  perceive  no  weapon,  no  im- 
plement of  iron  in  the  poffeflion  of  the  natives 
who  come  on  fhipboard,  would  it  be  too  bold 
a  conje6ture  to  fuppofe  that  the  chiefs  or  Earees 
of  each  iQand,  who  appear  to  exercife  the  greateft 
authority,  make  it  their  bufinefs,  either  through 
policy,  or  through  an  effe6t  of  their  cupidity,  to 
get  all  the  iron  from  the  hands  of  the  iflanders, 
and  form  of  it,  as  it  were,  hoards  5  as  we  fee  the 
Princes  of  Asia  bury  the  precious  metals  which 
commerce  with  Europeans  annually  introduces  into 
their  country  ? 

Before  we  quit  the  Sandwich  Iflands,  I  fliall 
take  the  liberty  of  making  a  digrefllon  refpeding 
the  period  of  their  difcovery  by  the  Europeans. 
Thofe  v/ho  have  read  no  other  account  than  that  of 
Cook's  third  voyage  mufl  believe  tjiat  this  difco- 
7  very 


tS 


marchand's  \>oyage,      [OEt,  1791* 


very  inconteftably  belongs  to  that  celebrated  na- 
vigator j  but  it  can  be  proved  that  it  belongs  more 
anciently  to  the  Spaniards,  as  well  as  feveral  other 
difcoveries  in  the  Great  Ocean,  which  ignorance 
or  policy  had  fufFered  to  be  loft,  and  which  the 
intereft  and  aftivity  of  the  navigators  of  our  days 
have  led  them  to  bring  to  light  again. 

I  fnall  not  adduce  as  one  of  the  titles  of  the 
Spaniards  to  the  firft  difcovery  of  the  Sandwich 
Iflands,  that  in  1568,  Mendana  difcovered  in  the 
latitude  of  1 9^  20'  north,  and  1 50°  weft  from  the 
meridian  of  Paris,  according  to  the  Spanifti  charts, 
an  ifland  by  them  named  San  Francisco*,  fitu- 
ated  in  the  parallel  of  thefe  iflands;  to  this,  the 
obfcurity  of  ancient  narratives  would  juftly  be 
objected  ;  befides,  the  knowledge  of  an  ifland  in 
the  fame  latitude  as  the  group  of  the  Sandwich 
Iflands,  proves  not  the  knowledge  of  that  very 
group  j  and  it  might  thence  merely  be  concluded 
that,  in  the  parallel  of  thofe  iflands,  more  to  the 
eaftward  or  more  to  the  weft  ward,  there  exift  fome 
other  iflands. 

But  1  examine  the  Spanifli  chart  of  the  Manilla 
galleon •\  ;  there  I  fee  in  the  parallel  of  the  Sand- 
wich  Iflands,   about    18°  to   the  eaftward  of 

*  Hechos  de  Don  Garcia  de  Mendaça,  ^c.  Par  eL  .Dr,  Suarei 
de  Flgueroaf  p.  z^^.^Herrera,  Defcrlp,  de  las  Indias  Occld, 
chap.  27. — Lopes  Vaz  and  others. 

t  See  the  two  groups  drawn  on  one  plan  and  on  the  fame 
fcale.    Plate  V, 

Mendana's 


061.179^0         MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


Mendana's  Ifland  of  San  Francisco,  a  group 
compofcd  of  four  principal  iflands,  and  of  fome 
others  of  fmaller  extent  :  the  moft  fouthern  is 
alfo  the  largeft  :  the  middle  of  this  ifland  is  in  the 
latitude  of  about  19°  20';  it  is  called  La  Mesa  : 
to  the  north-weft  of  this,  are  feen  two  fomewhat 
confiderable  iflands>  grouped  with  four  others 
much  fmaller  :  the  fix  together  are  defignated  by 
the  colle6live  word  of  Los  Monjes*  (the  Monks)  : 
from  the  middle  of  La  Mesa  to  the  middle  of 
the  group>  we  may  reckon  about  forty  leagues. 

Let  us  at  prefent  examine  the  eaftern  group  of 
the  Sandwich  Iflands  :  for  it  is  well  known  that 
thefe  iflands  form  two  difl:in6l  groups  -,  the  Weftern 
group  which  was  explored  by  Cook  in  January 
1778,  in  his  run  from  the  Society  ifles  to  the 
NORTH-WEST  coafl  of  AMERICA,  and  the  Eaftern 
group  of  which  he  had  no  knowledge  till  his  return 
from  that  coaft  in  the  month  of  November  fol- 
lowing. 

The  eaftern  group  is,  like  that  of  La  Mesa  of 
the  Spaniards,  compofed  of  four  principal  iflands 
and  of  a  few  others  of  lefs  extent  :  the  fouthern- 
moft  ifland,  O-Whyhee,  is  alfo  the  i^rgeft  :  the 

•  *  On  the  cop7  of  this  map,  publiflied  by  Commodore  A?i/on 
we  read  los  Mojosy  in  lieu  of  los  Motijes  ;  this  is  a  miftake  ; 
D.  Tomas  Lopezy  on  his  Mapa  de  America  1772,  writes  Los 
Monjesy  and  it  is  well  known  that  this  denomination  of  Los 
Mottjes  (the  Monks)  is  not  rare  on  Spanifti  Maps  for  defignating 
fmall  iflands  aflembled  iij  g  group, 

VOL.  II,  c  moft 


i8  marciiand's  voyage.      [061:.  1791. 

moft  remarkable  part  of  this  ifland,  the  high  moun- 
tain of  RoA,  is,  like  the  middle  of  La  Mesa  of 
the  Spaniards,  fituated  nearly  in  the  latitude  of  1 9® 
,20':  to  the  north- weft  of  O-Whyhee,  as  well  as 
to  the  north-weft  of  La  Mesa,  are  two  fomewhat 
confiderable  iflands,  grouped  with  three  other 
fmaller  iflands  j  only,  the  fmall  iflands  are  not 
here  three  in  number  ;  and  we  reckon  four  in  the 
Spanifti  group  :  from  the  middle  of  O-Whyhee 
to  the  middle  of  its  group,  as  well  as  from  the 
middle  of  La  Mesa  to  the  middle  of  the  group 
to  which  it  belongs,  we  reckon  forty  leagues  :  in 
fhort,  both  groups  alike  occupy  from  two  to  three 
degrees  in  latitude,  and  upwards  of  three  degrees 
in  longitude. 

Thus,  it  is  feen  that,  to  defcribe  the  eaftern 
group  of  the  Sandwich  Iflands,  I  have  had  only 
to  repeat  what  I  had  faid  in  defcribing  the  group 
of  La  Mesa  :  the  fame  latitude,  the  fame  bearing 
of  the  iflands  with  refpedl  to  each  other,  the  fame 
number,  the  fame  difpofition,  the  fame  total  ex- 
tent: it  is  not  poflible  to  unite  more  charadleriftics 
of  identity. 

To  thefe  geographical,  and,  unqueftionably, 
fufficient  proofs,  I  fluall  add  another  which  is  not 
without  fome  weights  but  whiph,  however,  I 
fliould  have  offered  as  a  probability  rather  than  as 
a  proof,  were  it  not  fupported  by  the  former. 

Firft,  I  obferve  that  the  principal  ifland  of  the 
group  on  the  Spanifli  chart  is  called  La  Mesa, 

in 


061.  179'*']         MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


^9 


in  Englifh  the  Table,  I  obferve,  in  the  fécond 
place,  that  this  name  of  Table  is  an  appellative 
name  which  navigators  are  accuftomed  to  employ 
for  the  purpofe  of  defignating  a  mountain  whofe 
fummit  is  flat  :  every  one  has  heard  of  the  Table- 
mountain,  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope;  on  the 
coaft  of  Spain,  in  the  Mediterranean,  we  find 
Orlando'^  Table,  &c.  Thus,  it  cannot  be 
doubted  that  the  Spaniards  were  determined  to 
impofe  on  their  ifland  the  name  of  La  Mesa, 
becaufe  it  was  remarkable  from  fome  great  moun- 
tain terminated  by  a  platform,  by  a  Table,  But  the 
Ifland  of  O-Whyhee  which  anfwers,  in  one  group, 
to  the  Ifland  of  La  Mesa  in  the  other,  is  alike 
remarkable,  as  has  been  feen,  from  a  great  moun- 
tain whofe  flat  fummit  reprefents  a  long  table  ;  the 
natives  call  it  Mowna-Roa,  from  the  generic  name 
Mowna  (mountain)  and  from  the  word  Roa, 
extended,  or  of  a  great  extent.  May  not  this  Ami- 
litude  of  the  two  mountains,  in  a  particularity,  in 
a  figure  which  is  not  very  frequently  met  with,  be 
admitted  as  a  frcfli  proof  of  the  identity  of  the  two 
groups  ? 

I  am  not  difpofed  to  believe  that  it  is  meant  to 
confider  the  galleon's  chart  as  not  being  authentic, 
and  deferving  of  no  confidence  j  for  it  is  well  known 
that  this  chart  was  intrufl:ed  only  to  the  captain 
of  the  fliip,  and  it  was  on  this  chart,  that,  with 
his  pilot,  he  regulated  his  courfe  5  and,  undoubt- 

€2  Cdly, 


20 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.         [061.  lygt. 


edly,  it  will  not  be  fuppofed  that  the  Spaniards 
there  placed  imaginary  iflands,  efpecially  when 
we  fee  thefe  illands  defignated  by  fignificative  names  : 
thofe  who  know  the  jealous  uneafinefs  of  the 
government  of  Spain  in  regard  to  her  pofîeflions 
in  America,  and  her  ancient  difcoverics  in  the 
Great  Ocean,  will  rather  be  inclined  to  believe 
that  they  have  never  allowed  that  all  the  lands 
which  her  navigators  have  difcovered  fhould  be 
laid  down  on  their  charts.  Thefe  lands  would  there 
be  improperly  placed,  no  doubt,  efpecially  in 
longitude  j  but  at  lead  it  would  be  known  that 
they  exifl  :  and  more  Ikilful  navigators  would  one 
day  contrive  to  find  them  again,  and  bring  us  ac- 
quainted with  them. 

To  the  proofs  which  I  have  given  of  the  identity 
of  the  Sandwich  Iflands  and  of  the  group  of  La 
Mesa,  will  be  oppofed  :  ^ 

ift.  That  Cook  faw  no  ifland,  twenty- five 
leagues  to  the  north-eaft  of  O-Whyhee,  which 
can  reprefent  to  us  La  Desgraciada,  an  ifland 
fituated  on  the  galleon's  chart,  at  that  diftance 
and  in  that  bearing,  in  regard  to  La  Mesa  ; 

2nd.  That  Cook  difcovered  to  the  weft-north- 
weft,  and  at  the  diftance  of  twenty-five  leagues  from 
the  wefternmoft  of  the  eaftern  group  of  the  Sand- 
wich Iflands,  a  fécond  group,  compofed  of  two 
iflands  and  two  iflots;  and  that  the  Spanifli  chart 
does  not  indicate  this  group. 

To 


0£l.  1791-]  MARCHAND's  voyage.  21 

To  the  firft  obje6tion  I  anfwer,  that,  if  La 
Desgraciada  was  not  perceived  by  Captain 
Cook,  it  is  not  a  proof  that  it  does  not  exifl:. 
When  this  navigator,  in  coming  from  the  fouth- 
Weirdy  fell  in  with  the  weftern  group  of  the  Sand- 
wich Iflands,  he  did  not  even  perceive  the  eaftern 
group  ;  ftill  lefs  could  he  have  feen  an  ifland  fitu- 
ated  twenty- five  leagues  to  the  north- eaft  of  the 
latter:  and  when,  ten  months  after,  in  returning 
from  the  northward,  he  looked  for  the  group  which 
he  had  vifited  the  preceding  year,  he  met  with 
the  eaftern  group  about  the  middle  of  its  extent 
from  north-weft  to  fouth-eaft^  he  then  failed  very 
clofely  round  the  Ifland  of  O-Whyhee;  and  it 
is  not  very  aftonifhing  that  he  fliould  not  have 
feen  an  ifland  which,  to  judge  of  it  from  the  name 
that  has  been  impofed  on  it  by  the  Spaniards,  La 
Desgraciadia,  the  ifland  unfavoured  by  Nature, 
the  mijerahle  ifland,  may  be  a  land  of  no  great 
appearance,  and  even  a  lov/  ifland.  If  the  reader 
caft  his  eye  on  the  planifphere  publiflied  by 
Arrowsmith  in  1794,  and  on  which  are  marked 
the  tracks  of  all  the  navigators  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
Sandwich  Iflands  i  he  will  fee  no  one  that  does 
not  pafs  too  far  from  La  Desgraciada  for  this 
ifland  to  have  pofllbly  been  perceived  from  the  fliips 
which  have  fleered  thefe  tracks.  Butlftiall  add  that 
it  is  not  proved  that  La  Desgraciada  was  dif- 
covered  by  the  fame  navigator  who  difcovered  La 

c  3  Mesa  \ 


22  marchand's  voyage.       [0£1.  1791. 

Mesa;  and  he  who  met  with  the  former,  could 
not  place  it  according  to  his  difierence  of  longi- 
tude in  regard  to  a  group  which  he  did  not  fee, 
which  perhaps  he  did  not  even  know  of,  but  in 
the  abfolute  longitude  that  he  afligned  to  it  ac- 
cording to  his  dead  reckoning,  fince  he  had  quitted 
the  coaft  of  America  5  and  the  galleon^s  chare 
muft  have  placed  it  according  to  this  abfolute 
longitude  :  now,  in  this  cafe,  it  might  probably 
happen  that  there  was  a  great  error  in  the  longi- 
tude of  La  Desgraciada,  and  that  this  ifland 
which,  on  the  galleon*s  chart,  is  feen  to  differ  in 
longitude,  in  regard  to  La  Mesa,  only  a  degree 
towards  the  eaft,  might  differ  from  it,  on  the  globe, 
feveral  degrees  in  the  fame  direftion,  and  perhaps 
even  in  a  contrary  one.  As  much  may  be  faid  of 
an  ifland,  called  Ulva,  which,  in  the  galleon's 
chart,  is  laid  down  in  the  parallel  of  23°  north, 
half  a  degree  to  the  eaftward  of  the  meridian  of 
La  Desgraciada.  It  is  a  principle  which  mufl 
be  admitted,  that  when  two  iflands  have  not  been 
difcovered  by  the  fame  navigator,  and  in  the 
fame  voyage,  in  pafHng  from  the  one  to  the  other, 
we  can  depend  only  on  the  latitude  affjgned  to 
each  ifland,  that  is  to  fay,  depend  on  it  within  half 
a  degree ,  but  that,  in  this  cafe,  their  abfolute  lon- 
gitude is  fo  uncertain  that  we  cannot,  if  we  wifli 
to  find  them  again,  difpenfe  with  getting  into  their 
refpedtive  parallel,  two  or  three  hundred  leagues 

aftern 


Oà.  1791-]         MARCHAND's  VOYAGE. 


23 


aftern  of  the  place  where  the  chart  fixes  their 
pofition,  and  then  navigating  on  this  parallel  till 
we  fucceed  in  meeting  with  the  ifland*. 

To  the  fécond  objedion  I  anf/^er,  that  the 
Spaniards  who  faw  the  group  of  La  Mesa,  the 
eaftern  group  of  the  Sandwich  Iflands,  may  very 
polTibly  not  have  feen  the  two  iflands  and  the 
two  iflots  which  form  the  weflern  group  ;  by  the 
fame  reafon  that  Cook,  (which  might  appear  more 
extraordinary,)  when  he  faw  for  the  firft  time  the 
weftern  group,  did  not  perceive  the  eaftern  group, 
although  fome  of  the  iflands  which  compofe  it 
can  be  feen  at  the  diftance  of  forty  or  fifty  leagues; 
by  the  fame  reafon  again,  that  this  navigator  faw 
not,  thirty  leagues  to  the  north-weft  of  his  weftcrn 
group,  Bird  Ifland  and  Montagu  Ifland-j-,  which, 
fubfequentiy  to  his  laft  voyage,  fome  Englifh  navi- 
gators have  difcovered:  and  if,  as  may  be  pre- 
fumed,  the  Sandwich  Iflands  are  only  the  fum- 
mits  of  a  chain  of  fubaqueous  mountains,  it 
might  fo  happen  that  this  chain  might  extend 
farther  to  the  north-weft,  and  form  other  iflands^ 

*  Here  we  are  fpeaking  only  of  the  difcoveries  of  the  ancient 
navigators  who  determined  the  longitudes  nearly  by  chance  ; 
for  the  moderns  can  employ,  for  fixing  the  pofitions  of  the  lands 
which  they  difcover,  means  that  give  to  thofe  who  know 
how  to  employ  fimilar  ones,  the  affurance  of  finding  with  facility 
the  places  where  they  wifh  to  touch. 

t  Thefe  are  laid  down  on  the  General  Chart  of  the  Worlds 
and  on  the  Planifphere,  publiihed  by  Arro^fmith^  the  former  in 
1790,  the  latter  in  1794, 


ç  4  beyofid 


24 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


[oa.  ,79t. 


beyond  thofe  which  thefe  recent  navigators  have 
difcovered. 

It  feems  to  me  then  that  the  obje6lions  which, 
in  order  to  do  away,  or  at  lead  to  weaken  the  idea 
of  the  identity  of  the  eallern  group  of  the  Sand- 
wich Iflands,  and  of  that  which  the  galleon's  chart 
places  in  the  fame  latitude,  in  the  fame  number  of 
iflands,  occupying  the  fame  fpace,  and  difpofed 
in  the  fame  manner,  fliould  be  fupported,  on  the 
one  hand,  on  Captain  Cook's  not  having  perceived 
La  Desgraciada,  on  the  other,  on  the  Spaniards 
not  having  had  a  knowledge  of  the  weftern  group 
of  the  Sandwich  Ifiands,  it  feems  to  me,  I  fay, 
that  thefe  objed:ions  are  eftabhftied  on  arguments 
which  cannot  bear  a  difcuffion. 

Perhaps  it  will  be  objeded  to  me,  as  a  laft 
refource,  that  the  two  groups  differ  too  much  in 
longitude,  for  it  to  be  pofFible  to  take  them  for 
one  and  the  fame  group  s  and,  in  fa6l,  O- Whyhee, 
taken  at  its  middle,  is,  according  to  the  obferva- 
tions  of  the  Englifli,  158^  weft  from  Paris,  and 
La  Mesa,  on  the  galleon's  chart,  is  24*^  weft  from 
the  meridian  of  San  Joseph  in  California-!*, 
and,  confequently,  136°  weft  from  that  of  Paris. 
But  this  difference  of  22°  is  far  from  being  a 
proof  againft  the  identity  of  the  two  groups  :  who 

+  The  longitude  of  San  Jofeph^  according  to  the  obfervations 
of  the  Abbé  Chappe,  is  112^  2'  30^' weft  from  the  meridian  of 
Farts*    (See  Voyage  en  Californie^  page  85  to  88.) 

does 


Oft.  1791  •]         MARCHAND's  VOYAGE. 


25 


does  not  know  that,  when  the  queftion  relates  to 
the  ancient  difeoveries  in  the  Great  Ocean,  we 
look  only  to  the  latitude  which  cannot  be  afFeded 
by  a  very  great  error  3  to  the  whole,  and  the  general 
difpofition  of  the  two  groups  that  we  are  com- 
paring ;  to  the  number,  to  the  diftances  and  to  the 
refpeélive  bearings  of  the  iflands  which  compofe 
themj  in  fhort,  to  a  union  of  remarkable  par- 
ticularities, which  is  not  to  be  found  the  fame  in 
two  different  groups.  The  famous  Solomon. 
Iflands,  difcovered  by  Mendana  in  1567,  partly 
found  again  by  Bougainville  in  1768,  in  a 
greater  part  ftill  by  Surville,  in  1769*,  vifited 
twice,  latterly,  by  Dentrecasteaux  f,  and  whofe 

geographical 

*  See  the  Découvertes  des  Français  dans  le  Sud-ejî  de  la 
Kowvelle  Guinée» — Paris,  Impr.  Royale,  4to,  1790*  page  85  to 
100,  199  to  231. 

+  Fra?ice  has  not,  hitherto,  been  able  to  gather  the  fruits 
of  the  voyage  which  De?itrecafteaux  undertook  in  order  to  go 
in  fearch  of  La  Pérou/e's  frigates  :  but  this  harveft  is  ftill 
entire  ;  and,  no  doubt,  thofe  in  whofe  pofTeflion  it  has  remained, 
will  be  fenfible  of  how  much  importance  it  is  to  the  utility 
of  the  fciences  in  general,  and  to  that  of  navigation  and 
geography  in  particular,  that  the  difeoveries  which  he  made  in 
the  couife  of  a  long  expedition,  and  all  the  labour  of  his  co- 
operators,  ftiould  not  be  loft  to  a  nation  which  bore  the  expenfe 
of  it,  and  to  Europe,  which  ought  to  ftiare  the  benefit. 

Dentrecajîeauxy  already  fatigued  by  long  and  uninterrupted 
fervices,  carried  with  him  the  germ,  perhaps  indeftruftible,  of 
that  fatal  diforder  which  is  with  difficulty  avoided  by  thofe 
whofe  conftitution  has  for  a  length  of  time  been  affeékd  by 
long  voyages,  rapidly  repeated,  and  without  a  necelfary  interval 

of 


26 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  [08:.  Ijgî^ 


geographical  pofition  is  irrevocably  fixed,  occu- 
pkd,  for  upwards  of  two  centuries,  on  various 
hydrographicâl  charts,  pofitions  in  longitude,  the 
extremes  of  which  differed  a  thoufand  marine 
leagues,  or  about  fifty  degrees.  Quiros's  Tier r  a 
Austral  del  Espiritu  Santo,  feen  and  ex- 
plored for  the  firfi:  time  in  1606,  by  the  Spanifli 
navigator  of  that  name,  and  found  again  in  1769, 
by  Bougainville,  long  remained  attached  to 
New  Holland,  of  which  it  was  prefumed  that 
it  muft  form  a  part:  at  this  day,  it  has  retired  five 


of  repofe  :  he  could  not  withftand  freHi  attacks,  the  violence 
ct  which  was  necefFarily  increafed  by  a  voyage  of  two  years 
irader  the  torrid  zone.  He  funk,  and  carried  with  him  the 
£ncere  regret  of  all  thofe  fubje(f^  to  his  authority,  which  he 
always  found  means  to  maintain  without  ever  fufîering  its. 
weight  to  be  felt.  His  virtues  rendered  him  dear  to  his 
friends,  and  refpeded  by  every  one  who  knew  him,  as  his  ta- 
lents, his  courage,  and  his  experience  in  his  profelfion,  and  in 
the  details  of  adminiftration,  rendered  him  ufeful  to  his  coun- 
try. Theexcefs  of  his  zeal  lliortened  his  days  ;  but,  before  he 
terminated  a  career  which  he  had  fo  honourably  filled,  he  had  at 
leaft  the  fatisfaftion  of  having  brought  the  dangerous  expedition, 
i»ith  which  he  was  intruded,  to  fuch  a  point,  that  what  re- 
mained to  be  done  might  be  confidered  in  the  light  of  an 
ordinary  voyage. 

The  reader,  undoubtedly,  will  not  difapprovc  of  Friendlhip 
having,  by  the  way,  llrewn  a  few  flowers  over  the  grave  of  a 
jnan,  whofe  memory  claims  from  his  countrymen,  and  from 
navigiators  of  all  countries,  a  tribute  of  gratitude  which  they 
^^ill  be  eager  to  pay  him,  as  foon  as  circumftances  fliall  have 
»l'ioivc^l  his  labours  to  be  refcued  from  oblivion,  and  E?iropc 
ftiali  be  informed  of  what  he  has  done^  and  what  deferved. 


hundred 


Oft.  1791.]  MARCHANDAS  VOTAGE.  S/ 

hundred  leagues  to  the  eaftward  of  that  vaft  coun- 
try. When  a  newly-difcovered  group  prefents 
feveral  inconteftable  charaderiftics  of  identity  with 
another,  which  we  know  to  have  been  feen  in 
former  times,  let  us  beware  of  faying  that  it  is 
not  the  fame  group,  from  the  fole  reafon  that  it 
was  found  in  a  longitude  different  from  that  which 
the  firft  dijcoverer  had  indicated  only  from  the 
erroneous  diftance  at  which  he  fuppofed  it  to  be 
from  the  continent  of  America,  whence  he  ^had 
been  difpatched.  And  fuch  has  been  the  fate  of 
part  of  the  infulated  difcoveries  of  the  Spaniards: 
daring  adventurers,  bold  in  trying  fortune  and 
chances,  lucky  in  their  courfe,  ignorant  in  tracing 
it,  fatisfied,  in  fhort,  with  having  difcovered  half 
of  the  globe,  they  have  left  to  others  the  taflc  of 
finding  again  what  they  themfelves  feemed  to  have 
forgotten. 

In  depriving  Captain  Cook  of  the  barren  honour 
of  the  firft  difcovery  of  the  Sandwich  Iflands, 
I  deprive  him  not  of  the  fmalleft  portion  of  that 
fame  which  he  has  fo  juftly  acquired  :  I  will  even 
fay  that  it  is  adding,  if  poffible,  to  his  merits 
for  merit  confifts  in  fiilding  what  we  look  for, 
in  having  combined  the  means  that  might  lead  to 
the  difcovery  ;  and  to  difcover  what  we  were  not 
looking  for,  is  the  merit  of  chance,  which  ought 
not  juftly  to  be  affigned  to  the  fharc  of  the  navi- 
gator whom  chance  has  favoured  j  it  is  a  borrowed 

merits 


28  maIeichand's  voYA<SE.  [Oa. 

merit  1  and  Captain  Cook,  fo  rich  in  his  own 
difcoveries,  ought  to  borrow  nothing,  as  he  can 
have  nothing  to  envy  in  the  adventurers  to  whom 
we  are,  before  his  time,  indebted  for  the  fhapelefs 
knowledge  of  the  globe.  If  difcoveries  immor- 
talize thofe  who  have  made  them,  they  alfo 
immortalize  thofe  who  have  brought  them  to  per- 
fection. 

Lieutenant  Roberts,  who  conftruded  the  ge- 
neral chart  of  the  third  voyage  of  the  Englilh 
navigator,  on  which  are  traced  his  three  Voyages 
round  the  World,  and  towards  both  poles,  has 
preferved  the  group  of  La  Mesa  of  the  galleon's 
chart,  and  placed  it,  taken  at  its  middle,  19°  eafl: 
from  O-Whyhee  and  on  the  parallel  of  that 
ifland:  it  fhould  feem  that,  in  thus  preferving  the 
group  difcovered  by  the  Spaniards,  he  was  de- 
firous  that  no  one  fhould  dare  to  conteft  with  the 
Englifh  the  firft  difcovery  of  the  SANDwicHlflands. 
But  Arrowsmith,  both  on  his  General  Chart  of 
1790,  and  on  his  Planifphere  of  1794,  facrificing, 
no  doubt,  national  vanity  to  evidence,  has  done 
juftice  to  this  double  adoption.  As  far  back  as 
1786,  La  Pe  rouse  who,  with  a  view  of  afcer- 
taining  whether  there  exifted  any  iflands  to  the 
eaftward  of  the  Sandwich  group,  had  made  a 
point  of  running,  in  their  parallel,  three  hundred 
leagues  from  eafl  to  weft,  neither  perceived,  over 
this  whole  fpace,  any  detached  ifland,  nor  faw  any 

fign 


Oft.  179^-3         MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  «9 

r 

fign  of  land  ;  though  from  the  afpeft  of  the  Ifland 
of  O- Why  H  EE,  and  its  /^2^/<?-mountain,  he  had 
no  doubt  of  its  being  La  Mesa  of  the  Spaniards. 

But  in  effacing  the  group  to  which  La  Mesa 
belongs,  and  which  becomes  the  eaftern  group  of 
the  Sandwich  Iflands,  Arrowsmith  has  alfo 
totally  effaced  the  Ifland  of  Roca-Partida,  fitu- 
ated,  on  the  galleon's  chart,  about  one  hundred 
and  forty  leagues  to  the  eaft-fouth-eaft  of  La 
Mesa,  and  on  a  parallel  lefs  northerly  by  three 
degrees  and  a  half  :  he  has  merely  fuffered  La 
NuBLADA  to  fubfift,  whofe  name  indicates  a  high 
land,  over  which  clouds  hang;  and  it  is  laid  down 
a  hundred  leagues  to  the  eaftward  and  on  the 
parallel  of  Roca-Partida.  This  laft- mentioned 
ifland  was  difcovered,  in,  1542  by  the  Caftilian 
pilot  Juan  Gaetano,  in  the  flrfl:  voyage  that 
the  Spaniards  ever  attempted,  from  the  weft  coaft 
of  New  Spain  to  the  great  archipelago  of  Asia. 
Before  he  had  reached  Roca-Partida,  Gaetano 
had  difcovered,  on  the  fame  parallel,  and  two 
hundred  leagues  to  the  eaftward,  according  to  his 
reckoning,  another  ifland  which  he  had  called  San 
Tomas*.  This  ifland,  fltuated  to  the  eaftward 
of  Roca-Partida,  and  which  bears  no  name  on 
the  galleon's  chart,  might  be  that  which  the  modern 
charts  defignate  by  the  name  of  La  Nublada, 

*  See  Ramujio.  De  lie  Navlgatlonl  e  Viaggz,  ^c,  Venetia^ 
Gluntu    1^6^,  Vol,  I,  fol,  375,  *ven^> 


4 


We 


MARCH  AN  p's  VOYAGE.         [OEi.  I79I. 


We  are  not  juftified  in  fuppofing  that  La  Nublada, 
or  Gaetano's  San  Tomas,  are  one  and  the  fame 
ifland,  fince  the  Spanifli  navigator  difcovered  theni 
fucceffively,  in  the  fame  voyage,  in  (landing  from 
the  eaftward  to  the  weftward^  and  impofed  on  them 
different  names. 

Hitherto,  neither  Roca-Partida  nor  San 
Tomas,  or  La  Nublada,  have  been  found  again; 
but  let  us  not  be  in  a  hurry  to  efface  them  from 
our  charts  :  let  us  not  forget  that  the  Solomon 
Iflands  had  thence  difappeared,  fince  fome  geo- 
graphers, fupporting  themfelves  on  the  opinion  of 
the  learned  Alexander  Dalrymple,  had  fup- 
pofed  that  thefe  iflands  muft  be  the  eafl:  part  of 
New  Guinea  :  and  at  this  day,  the  archipelago 
of  the  Solomon  Iflands  occupies  its  particular 
place  on  the  «globe,  over  an  extent  of  two  hun- 
dred  leagues,  forty  leagues  to  the  fouth-eaft  of  that 
New  Guinea,  with  which  k  was  wifhed  to  be 
confounded*.  Let  us  fuffer  all  the  iflands  to 
fubfift  which  the  Spaniards  have  pointed  out  to 
us  on  their  charts  or  in  their  narratives,  till  we 
have  well  afcertained  their  identity  with  others  ; 
let  us  preferve  them,  were  it  only  as  beacons^,  which 
attrad;  the  attention  of  the  navigator,  and  engage 
him  to  make  refearches. 

*  See  the  Dc couvertes  des  Français  dans  le  Sud-ejî  de  la 
Nouvelle  Guinée,  page .4  to  ig — 85  to  154 — 201  to  231— The  - 
voyage  of  Dentrecajieaux  has  confirmed  what  was  there  fa.id 
of  thefe  illands. 

6  I  ihall 


OR,  1791.]       marchand's  voyage. 


I  fhall  terminate  this  digreffion,  rather  long 
perhaps,  but  which,  however,  is  not  void  of  utility, 
by  obferving  that  chronological  accuracy,  hifloricai 
truth,  and  j.uftice,  alike  require  that  in  placing  the 
Sandwich  Iflands  on  the  map  of  the  globe,  they 
flîould  no  longer  be  laid  down  with  the  erroneous 
indication  of  iflands  dijcovered  by  Captain  Cook, 
There  might  be  written  above  this  archipelago  : 
Sandwich  Iflands ^  explored,  and  .  named  by  Captain 
Cook  in  l'j'j'è',  formerly  dijcovered  by  the  Spaniflj 
navigators  :  this  would  be  to  declare  what  belongs 
to  the  moderns,  and  at  the  fame  time  to  reftore 
to  the  ancients  what  they  have  a  right  to  claim. 

I  return  to  the  journal  of  Captain  Marchand, 

He  took  his  departure  from  the  Ifland  of 
0-Whyhee,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  7th  of  Odo- 
ber,  and  lhaped  his  courfe  for  China. 

O-Whyhée  and  Mowee,  the  two  eafternmoft 
ifiands  of  the  eaftern  group  of  the  Sandv/ich 
Iflands,  both  appear  particularly  remarkable  from 
mountains  of  the  greateft  elevation.  In  order  to 
cftimate,  by  approximation,  the  height  of  their 
fummiits  above  the  level  of  the  fea,  I  fhall  make 
ufe  of  the  greateft  diftances  at  which  thefe  moun  - 
tains were  perceived  from  the  Solide,  diftance^ 
calculated  from  the  way  that  the  fhip  had  made 
in  light  of  the  land,  and  rectified  by- the  obferva- 
tion  of  the  latitude. 

We  find  by  Captain  Ch>nal's  journal,  that  on 
the  5th  at  fix  o'clock  in  the  morning,  he  fet,  at 

\  the 


02  MARCH  AN  d's  VOYAGE.         [061.  179!- 

the  fame  time,  the  mountain  of  the  Ifland  of 
Mo  WEE  bearing  north-eaft  2  or  3°  eaft,  and  that 
of  MowNA-RoA  of  the  Ifland  of  O-Whyhee, 
eaft  by  north  2  or  3°  eaft  :  he  reckoned  that  the 
fhip  was  then  at  the  diftance  of  thirty-fix  leagues 
from  both  of  them.  At  half  paft  five  o^clock 
in  the  afternoon,  he  ftill  perceived  very  diftinélly 
the  fummit  of  Mowna-Roa,  bearing  eaft  2°  30' 
north,  although  he  was  forty- fix  leagues  diftant 
from  the  weft  coaft  of  the  ifland,  and,  confequently, 
about  fifty  leagues  from  the  fummit  of  the  moun- 
tain. 

If,  with  this  diftance  of  fifty  leagues,  and  regard 
being  had  to  the  deprefllon  of  the  horizon  and  th'e 
efFe6t  of  terreftrial  refra6lion,  it  be  wiflied  to  feek 
by  calculation,  what  muft  be  the  height  of  the 
fummit  of  MowNA-RoA,  in  order  to  be  perceived 
at  the  diftance  of  fifty  leagues,  it  will  be  found 
that  it  is  2598  toifes,  and  ^thence  it  will  be  con- 
cluded that,  next  to  Chimboraço  in  Peru  whofe 
height  is  3220  toifes,  Mowna-Roa  is  the  higheft 
mountain  on  the  globe:  for  Pinchincha  which 
occupied  the  fécond  place,  is  but  2434  toifes  ; 
Mount  Blanc  which  occupied  the  third,  2391  ; 
and  the  Peak  of  Teyde  or  Teneriffe,  which 
occupied  the  fourth,  1905  toifes  only,  according 
to  the  trigonometrical  and  barometrical  calcula- 
tions of  Borda*.  Mowna-Roa  is  therefore  loftier 

*  See  Note  II. 

than 


OB:.  1791. J      maîichand's  voyage. 


â^3 


than  the  Peak  of  Teneriffe,  by  694  toifes  ;  and 
this  refult  would  fee  m  to  confirm  that  given  by 
Captain  Kino  in  the  third  volume  of  Cook's  lad 
voyage  :  he  fays  that  this  mountain  mufl  be  at 
"  leaft  16,020  feet  high,  which  exceeds  the  height 

of  the  Pico  de  Teyde  or  Peak  of  Teneriffe, 

by  724  feet,  according  to  Dr.  Heberden's 
"  computation,  or  3680  Englifh  feet  or  3452 

French  feet,  according  to  that  of  the  Chevalier 
*^  de  Borda,"**'  which  gives  575^  toifes, left  -,  this 
differs,  in  defed,  only  19I;  toifes,  from  the  height 
that  I  have  deduced  from  the  data  furnilhed  me 
•  by  Captain  Chanal's  journal. 

But  Captain  King  obtained  his  refult  by  a 
method  different  from  that  which  I  employed 
to  arrive  at  mine  :  he  took  for  the  bafis  of  his 
calculation,  according  to  the  principle  adopted  by 
La  Con  dam  in  e  for  meafuring  the  heights  of  the 
Andes  or  Cordilleras,  the  elevation  of  the  line 
at  which  the  fnow  remains  all  the  year  on  the 
high  mountains  between  the  tropics.  This  method 
was  not  applicable  to  the  mountains  of  the  Sand- 
wich Iflands,  fmce  it  has  been  feen  that,  in  the 
month  of  06tober,  there  exifted  no  fnow  on  any 
part  of  thefe  iflands.  I  therefore  confider  it  as 
the  effedt  of  chance  that  King's  refult  and  mine 
agree,  within  a  trifling  difference.  I  obferve  that 
King,   ftill  following  the   principle  which  he 


*  Cook's  third  Voyage^  Vol.  III.  pages  103  and  104. 

VOL.  II.  D  adopted. 


34 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.         [Oil.  179I. 


adopted,  adds  that  the  height  of  Mowna-Roa 
muft  be  much  greater  than  that  which  he  afllgns 
to  it  ;  for,  fays  he,  "  in  infular  fituaticns,  the 
efFeds  of  the  warm   fea-air  muft  necefîarily 
remove  the  line  of  fnow,  in  equal  latitudes,  to 
a  greater  height  than  where  the  atmofphere  is 
chilled  on  all  fides  by  an  immenfe  trad  of  per- 
petual  fnow."    The  principle  is  true,  and  the 
application  of  it  would  be  juft,  if  it  had  for  its 
objed  iflands  where  the  fnow  Ihould  laft  the  whole 
year;  but  it  cannot  be  admitted  with  refpeél  to 
thofe  v;here  the  fnow  does  not  refift  the  fummer 
-funs  *. 

*  In  not  adopting  the  confequence  which  Captain  Kin^^  has 
drawn  from  the  principle  on  which  he  refts  for  deciding  that 
the  height  of  Monx)na-Roa  muft  be  much  greater  than  that  which 
he  determines,  and  which  is,  within  a  trifling  difference,  the 
fanie  as  that  I  have  deduced  from  the  diftance  at  which  its  flat 
fummit  was  very  clearly  diftinguifhed  from  the  Solide,  I  am  far 
from  pronouncing  that  the  height  of  the  mountain  does  not 
exceed  the  2598  toifes  given  me  by  calculation;  for  Captain 
Chanal  related  to  me  verbally  that,  on  the  loth  at  fun-rife, 
feveral  perfons  belonging  to  the  ihip  were  convinced  that  they 
ftill  perceived  the  Table  of  Monjona-Roa  in  a  line  with  the 
horizon  ;  and,  at  this  period,  according  to  the  run  which  had 
been  made  during  the  night,  the  Solide  muft  have  been  fifty- 
three  leagues  diftant  from  it  at  leaft  ;  which  would  give  to  the 
mountain  upwards  of  2700  toifes  in  elevation  above  the  level  of 
the  fea. 

Captain  Chajial  had  not  thought  it  neceffary  to  infert  this 
obfervation  in  his  journal,  becaufe  he  had  not  been  able  to  fee 
with  his  own  eyes  ;  but  he  told  me  that,  on  other  occafions,  he 
had  difcovered  that  feveral  of  the  people  had  a  fight  which 
extended  much  farther  than  his. 

The 


0£l.  1791.]       marchand's  voyage. 


35 


The  fame  obferver  eftimates^  according  to  his 
method,  the  height  of  Mowna-Kaa,  (the  northern 
mountain  of  the  Ifland  of  O-V/hyhee)  at  half  a 
mile  or  475  toifes;  and  he  adds,  that  this  com- 
putation mud  be  too  low,  for  the  fame  reafon  that 
he  lias  given  for  fuppofmg  too  fmall  the  cftirtiation 
which  he  has  made  of  Mowna-Roa.  Captain 
Chanal's  journal  affords  us  no  datum  for  deter- 
mining the  elevation  of  Mowna-Kaa,  but  Surgeon 
RoBLET  thinks  that  the  eftimation  which  Captain 
King  fuppofes  to  be  too  low,  is,  on  the  contrary, 
very  rnuch  exaggerated. 

In  order  to  find  the  height  of  the  mountain  of 
MowEE,  the  fécond  ifland  of  the  eaftern  group, 
we  fhall  calculate  according  to  the  diftance  of 
thirty-fix  leagues,  eftimated  by  the  eye,  at  which 
it  was  perceived  on  the  morning  of  the  9th  ;  and 
it  will  be  found  that  its  fummit  is  1346  toifes 
high  :  this  height  is  between  that  of  Mount  St. 
GoTHARD,  143 1,  and  that  of  the  convent  on  the 
Great  St.  Bernard,  1241  toifes. 

The  Ifland  of  Atooi,  the  wefternmofl  of  the 
weftern  group,  is  alfo  very  lofty  ;  for,  on  the 
loth,  at  noon,  it  bore  north-north-weft  3  or 
norths  and,  according  to  the  latitude  of  the  fliip 
obferved  at  the  fame  inftant,  and  compared  with 
the  known  latitude  of  the  ifland,  the  diftance  from 
the  fliip  to  Atooi  muft  have  been  thirty  leagues  : 
the  height  of  the  mountain  is  therefore  12 16 
toifes. 

D  2  In 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  [Oû.  lygt. 


In  the  interval  from  noon  on  the  9th  to  noon  on 
the  loth,  the  Ihip  had  experienced  the  efFeft  of  a 
violent  current,  which  had  carried  her  29  minutes, 
or  nine  leagues  and  two  thirds  to  the  northward, 
as  was  afcertained  by  comparing  the  difference  of 
the  latitudes  obferved  on  the  9th  and  loth,  with 
the  difference  deduced  from  the  dead  reckoning 
during  the  fame  twenty-four  hours.  Captain 
Marchand  had  conftantly  fleered  wefl-north- 
weft  3^  45^  north,  allowing  for  the  variation  ;  the 
wind  had  blown  very  faintly  and  unfteadily  from 
the  fouthward  during  the  firft  five  hours  ;  in  the 
night,  it  had  been  calm  ;  and,  from  two  o'clock 
in  the  morning  till  noon  on  the  loth,  the  wind 
had  flood  in  the  north-eafl  quarter,  very  faint  and 
baffling;  the  fliip  had  made  very  little  way  through 
the  water  :  it  may  therefore  be  fuppofed  that,  as 
fhe  was  abreafl  of  all  the  channels  that  feparate 
both  the  two  groups,  and  the  iflands  of  which 
they  are  compofed,  the  rapid  current  which,  no 
doubt,  thefc  channels  occafion,  had  aéled  with  all 
its  velocity  and  ftrength  againft  the  ihip  whofe 
route  crofTed  its  dire6lion  ;  and,  by  caufing  her 
to  drift  bodily  to  the  northward,  although  her  ap- 
parent route  was  weft-north-weft,  it  had  carried, 
her  ten  leagues  in  twenty-four  in  the  former 
diredion. 

On  the  iith,  at  break  of  day,  no  land  was  to 
be  feen. 


The 


OB:.  1791.]         MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


37 


The  run  acrofs  the  Great  O  ce  a  re  with  regular 
and  fleady  winds,  prefents  only  a  monotonous 
feries  of  remarks  relative  to  the  velocity  and  the 
diredion  of  the  currents,  and  their  influence  on 
the  fhip's  courfe  :  I  have  thought  it  my  duty  to 
throw  them  into  the  notes  -,  and  I  invite  the  nau- 
tical reader  to  confult  them*. 

Captain  Marchandas  intention  had  at  firft  been 
to  fteer  between  the  twentieth  and  twenty-firft 
parallel  north,  and  to  follow  this  direflion  as  far 
as  China.  1  his  track,  little  frequented,  and 
which  afforded  the  hope  of  fome  difcovery,  is, 
undoubtedly  the  mod  dired,  and  may,  at  the  firft 
glance,  appear  the  fhorteft;  but  he  was  juftly  ap- 
prehenfive,  (and  the  calms  which  he  had  recently 
met  with  ftrengthened  this  apprehenfion)  of  find- 
ing only  faint  and  variable  breezes,  if  he  perfifted 
in  keeping  on  the  border  of  the  trade-winds  ;  he 
therefore  determined  to  penetrate  farther  into  the 
region  which  they  occupy,  and  he  kept  between 
the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  degree  of  north  lati- 
tude, crowding  fail,  till,  on  the  2nd  of  November, 
he  had  reached  the  longitude  of  148°  14'  eaftfrom 
the  meridian  of  Paris -j-.  He  then  ftood  again  a 
little  to  the  northward,  and  got  nearly  into  the 
latitude  of  15°,  which  is  the  parallel  of  Tinian, 
one  of  the  iOands  that  compofe  the  Mary-Anne 

♦  ^■^^  Notes  LII  toLV. 

i  See  Note  LVI.  and  the  Journal  of  the  Route  at  the  date  of 
the  2nd  of  November, 

p  3  Archipelago, 


38 


marchand's  voyage.       [061.  1791. 


Archipelago,  which  he  purpofed  to  make,  in  order 
to  crofs  it  between  this  ifland  and  that  of  Saypan. 

This  iongitude  of  148°  14'  on  the  2nd,  was  the 
mean  refult  of  four  fets  of  diftances  from  the  moon 
to  the  fun,  obferved  at  half  pall  t;wo  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  by  Captain  Marchand  and  Captain 
Chanal,  and  reduced  to  noon. 

In  allowing  for  the  fliip's  progrefs  by  account 
towards  the  weft,  in  the  interval  from  the  2nd  to 
the  3d,  it  was  computed  that  at  noon  of  the  latter 
day,  flie  had  reached  the  longitude  of  146°  7'  eaft 
from  Paris,  at  the  fame  time  that  fhe  was  in 
15°  6^  north  latitude. 

The  obfervations  of  Captain  Wallis  on  board 
the  Dolphin,  in  1767,  place  the  Ifiandof  Tinian, 
in  143°  35' 45''*  5  thus,  at  noon,  the  Solide  mufh 
have  been  at  no  more  than  2°  31^  15''  to  the  eafi:- 
ward  of  this  ifland  ;  and  at  fun-fet.  Captain 
Marchand  reckoned  *  that  he  was  only  at  the 
diftance  of  thirty-fix  leagues  from  it. 

He  regulated  his  fail  fo  as  to  difcover  the  ifland 
the  next  morning,  and  fufficiently  early  for  him  t^Cf 
hope  to  crofs  the  archipelago  during  the  day  : 
but  all  night  there  was  tempeftuous  weather,  with 
rain  and  fqualls. 

It  was  not  till  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon 
that  he  got  fight  of  the  ifland  j  and,  in  eftimating 

*  See  Ajironomical  Ob/ervations  made  \n  the  Voyages  for  makhig 
Difcoteries  in  the  Southern  Hem'jfpkere»  By  W.  Wales,  London, 
1788.  4to.  Introduction,  page  X. 

his 


Nov.  1791.]      marchand's  voyage. 


39' 


his  difiance  from  it  by  the  eye,  he  judged  it  per- 
fectly conformable  to  the  refuît  of  the  obferva- 
tions  which  had  been  made  on  the  preceding 
days. 

At  three  quarters  pad  five,  the  mean  refult  of 
two  fets  of  diftances  of  the  fun  and  moon,  com- 
bined with  that  of  four  other  fets  obferved  on  the 
2nd,  gave  143°  38'  for  the  eaft  longitude  of  the 
fhip,  which  places  the  eailern  extremity  of  Tinian^ 
according  to  the  bearing  that  was  taken  of  it  at 
the  fame  inftant  and  its  eftimated  diftance,  in 
143^  33':  it  has  been  feen  that  the  obfervations  of 
Wallis  placed  it  in  143*^  35-  45^^:  thus  the  obfer- 
vations made  on  board  the  Dolphin  and  thofe 
made  on  board  the  Solide  agree  in  their  refults, 
and  this  agreement  may  be  confidered  as  the  proof 
of  a  fufficient  accuracy  in  this  determination*. 

Captain  Thomas  Gilbert  places  Tinian  in 
146°  eaft  from  Greenwich,  or  143°  39'  45'^  eaft 
from  Paris  but  he  does  not  mention  on  what 
obfervations  he  has  founded  the  pofition  which  he 
afiigns  to  it:  Dixon  gives  it  only  143^  lo'J • 

As  for  the  latitude  of  Tinian,  Captain  Mar- 
chand was  not  enabled  to  obferve  it  immediately; 
but  Gilbert  has  concluded  from  his  obfervations, 

*  See  Note  LVII. 

f  Voyage  from  Neiv' South  Wales  to  Canton  In  the  year  1 788. 
By  Thomas  Gilbert j  commander  of  the  Charlotte,  Londony  1789. 
4to.  page  63. 

:|;  Dixon* s  Voyage}  page  284. 


that 


40 


marchand's  voyage.       [Nov.  1791. 


that  the  middle  of  the  ifland  is  fituated  in  15^ 
Captain  Wall  I  s  fixed  the  point  of  the  rocd 
where  he  was  at  anchor;,  and  which  is  lefs 
northerly  than  the  middle  of  the  iQand,  at  14°  55^ 
and  the  watering-place  which  is  not  far  diftant 
from  the  fouth-weft  point,  at  14°  59'*.  Dixof^ 
places  the  ifland^,  in  general,  in,  i5°  j.  All  thefe 
pofidons  agree  with  each  other. 

This  is  not  the  cafe  with  the  latitude  which 
Commodore  Anson  had,  afTigned  to  this  ifland:  he 
places  it  in  .15°  8' J:  but  although,  at  the  period 
when  the  obfervation  was  made.  Had  ley's  qua- 
drant had  for  ten  years  been  in  ufe  in  the  Englifh 
navy,  and  although  it  was  undoubtedly  employed 
ort  board  Anson's  fhip,  I  do  not  think  that  any 
regard  ought  to  be  paid  to  this  determination  ;  and 
the  middle  of  the  ifland  may  be  fixed  in  1 5°  north. 
This  difference  between  the  latitudes  determined 
by  Anson,  and  thofe  ohferved  by  recent  naviga- 
tors, is  again  to  be  found  nearly  the  fame  in  regard 
to  Saypan,  The  Commodore's  journal  places 
this  ifland,  without/  any  other  indication  than  its 
name,  in  15*^  2:^':  we  are  juflified  in  believing 
that  this  latitude  applies  to  the  Peak,  the  mod 
remarkable  part  of  the  ifland  ;  and,  in  this  cafe^ 

*  Hanvkefworth' s  Co?ripilation,    Vol.  I.  page.  500. 
"f  Dixori's  Voyage^  page  284. 

+  A  Voyage  round  tha  World  in  the year^  1740-  1.1-42-43  and 
44.  By  George  An/on»  Compiled  by  Richard  V/ alter.  The 
3 2 th  Edition,    London,  4to.  17^7.  pao;e  308. 

it 


Nov.  1791.].     marchand's  voyage. 


it  would  differ  by  9  minutes  from  that  given  by 
the  obfervations  made  on  board  the  Solide,  ac- 
cording to  which  this  mountain  mull  be  fituated 
in  15°  13':  but  if  the  former  determination  was 
applied  to  the  northern  point  of  Saypan,  it  dif- 
fered only  by  1  or  3  minutes  from  the  refult  of  the 
later  obfervations,  which,  as  will  be  feen,  place 
this  point  in  15°  19  or  20'. 

At  fix  o'clock  in  the  evening,  the  Solide  was 
at  the  opening  of  the  paffage,  through  which  a 
fhip  may  crofs  this  archipelago  between  this  ifland 
and  that  of  Tinian  ;  but  it  would  not  have  been 
prudent  to  enter  it  at  the  moment  when  the  day 
was  on  the  point  of  clofing,  and  Captain  Mar- 
chand determined  to  ftand  to  the  offing  during 
the  night.  He  had  reafon  to  congratulate  himfelf 
on  the  refolution  that  he  had  taken  -,  for  he  met 
with  frequent  puffs  of  wind,  and  fome  very  hard 
fqualls,  which  might  have  occafioned  him  embar- 
rafTmcnt  and  uneafinefs,  had  the  fhip  been  engaged 
among  lands,  and  there  obliged  to  alter  her  courfe 
according  to  the  changes  of  the  wind. 

On  the  5th,  at  the  firft  dawn  of  day,  he  again 
ftood  in  for  the  land. 

At  three  quart€rs  paft  fix,  the  pafi^age  between 
the  iflands  bore  weft-fouth-weft  6°  well,  diftant 
about  fix  leagues  :  and  although  Captain  Mar- 
chand carried  a  prefs  of  fail,  the  fhip  drifted  to 
the  northward  fo  confiderably,  that  he  had  no 
hopes  of  being  able  to  clear  the  paffage  with  the 
7  wind 


42  MARCHAND's  VOYAGE*  [Nov.  I79I. 

wind  which  blew  from  the  fouth-fouth-eaft  and 
fouth  by  eaft.  At  half  paft  feven  o'clock,  he 
bore  up  north-weft  by  weft  in  order  to  pafs  to 
the  northward  of  Saypan.  He  ranged  along  the 
north-eaft  coaft  of  this  ifland  at  the  diftance  of 
about  two  leagues.  At  three  quarters  paft  eight, 
its  north-eaft  point,  which  is  the  moft  northern 
extremity,  bore  weft  2°  fouth,  dftant  two  leagues  : 
no  land  was  perceived  to  the  northw^ard.  Before 
ten  o'clock,  was  difcovered,  on  the  weft  coaft  of 
the  ifland,  an  iflot  which  bore  fouth-weft  6"^  weft 
in  one  with  the  north  point  of  Saypan.  At  noon, 
this  point  bore  fouth-eaft  by  fouth  1°  fouth,  and 
at  a  diftance  of  about  four  leagues  ;  the  weft  ex- 
tremity of  the  ifland,  fouth  by  eaft  i  or  2°  fouth  s 
and  the  iflot,  fouth  by  eaft  6^  fouth. 

The  latitude  obferved  at  the  fame  inftant  was 
ï  5°  30';  and  thence  the  northern  point  of  Saypan 
was  found  to  be  in  15°  19  or  io\  The  peak  of 
this  ifland  is  fituated,  nearly,  in  latitude  15°  13', 
and  in  about  143°  30'  eaft  longitude. 

In  comparing  the  latitude  obferved  at  nôon, 
with  that  which  refulted  from  the  dead  reckoning 
during  the  preceding  twenty-four  hours,  it  was 
difcovered,  that,  in  this  interval  of  time,  the  cur- 
rents had  carried  the  fl^iip  17  minutes,  or  five 
leagues  and  two  thirds,  to  the  northward*. 


*  See  the  Journal  of  the  Route  at  the  date  of  the  5  th  of 
November, 

6  Ships 


Nov.  179 1'-]      marchand's  voyage.  421 

Ships  which  crofs  the  Archipelago  of  the  Mary- 
Anne  IHands  are  accuftomed  to  pafs  between 
Saypan  and  Tinian,  or  to  the  fouthvvard  of 
the  latter  ifland  :  thefe  two  paiïages  are  the  m  oft 
frequented,  becaufe  they  are  the  beft  known., 
Circumftances,  as  has  been  feën,  forced  the  Solide 
to  pafs  to  the  northward  of  Saypan  ;  and  Captain 
Chanal  thinks,  from  the  remarks  which  he  was 
enabled  to  make,  that,  in  all  cafes,  this  lail-men- 
tioned  paffage  would  deferve  to  be  preferred  to 
the  other  two,  when  it  is  not  intended  to  touch  at 
Tinian.  He  faw  no  ifland,  no  Ihoal,  to  the  north- 
ward of  the  northern  part  of  Saypan  :  the  charts, 
indeed,  indicate,  under  the  name  of  Farellon,  a 
ledge  or  fhoal,  fituated  in  the  latitude  of  16% 
under  the  very  meridian  of  the  ifland  ;  but  it  is 
there  placed  at  the  diflance  of  twelve  leagues  from 
its  northern  point.  Off  the  north-eaft  coaft,  and 
the  north  point,  are  a  few  breakers  3  but  they  fliew 
themfelves,  and  do  not  extend  a  mile  into  the 
offing.  A  fhip  may  double  the  ifland  to  the  north- 
ward, and  range  along  its  coafl:  with  fafety,  leaving, 
between  the  land  and  her,  a  diftance  of  one  or  two 
leagues. 

The  Ifland  of  Saypan,  uninhabited  like  that  of 
Tinian,  feems  not,  as  far  as  a  judgment  can  be. 
formed  from  coalling  its  north  fide,  to  afford  the 
fame  refrefliments  to  fliips  thatfliould  touch  there: 
only,  among  the  trees  with  which  the  north-eaft 

coaft 


44  marchand's  voyage.       [Nov.  1791. 

coafl  is  covered,  are  diftinguiflied  a  great  quantity 
of  cocoa-palms. 

Commodore  Anson,  who  has  given  us  a  view 
of  the  north-wefl:  coaft  of  the  iQand,  fays  that  it 
prefents  not  a  lefs  agreeable  afpe6t  than  that  of 

TiNlAN. 

In  1765,  Commodore  Byron  caufed  the  Ifland 
of  Saypan  to  be  vifited  ^  and  this  is  the  only 
defcription  of  any  length  that  we  have  of  it  :  the 
nation  which  poiTefTes  it,  without  occupying  it,  is 
not  in  the  habit  of  defcribing  its  pofleiïions.  Ac- 
^  cording  to  him,  Saypan  is  confiderably  larger 
than  T1NIAN,  and,  in  his  opinion,  has  a  much 
pleafanter  appearance.  But  this  fentiment  is  pecu- 
liar to  Byron  -,  and  voyagers,  in  general,  agree 
in  giving  Tinian  the  preference  to  Saypan,  both 
in  regard  to  extent  and  beauty  :  the  Spaniards 
have  denominated  it  Buena-Vista  by  way  of  ex- 
cellence. The  Tamar  (the  fhip  which  Byron 
fcnt  to  examine  the  Ifiand  of  Saypan,  while  he 
himfelf  lay  at  Tinian),  anchored,  he  fays,  to 
leeward  of  it,  in  about  ten  fathoms  water,  with 
much  the  fame  kind  of  ground  (hard  fand  and 
coral  rock)  as  he  had  in  the  road  of  Tinian. 
tier  people  landed  upon  a  fine  fandy  beach  which 
is  fix  or  feven  miles  long,  and  walked  up  into  the 
woods,  where  they  faw  many  trees  which  wer£ 
very  fit  for  topmafiç.  They  faw  no  fowls,  nor 
any  tracks  of  catties  but  of  hogs  and  guana- 

coes 


Nov.  1791-]      marchand's  voyage.  45 

coes*  there  was  plenty.  They  found  no  frefli  water 
near  the  beach,  but  faw  a  large  pond  inland,  which 
they  did  not  examine.  They  fawlarge  heaps  of  pearl 
oyfter-fhells  thrown  up  together,  and  other  figns 
of  people  having  been  there  not  long  before  :  pof- 
fibly  the  Spaniards,"  adds  he,  ^*  may  go  thither 
at  fome  feafons  of  the  year,  and  carry  on  a  pearl- 
fifhery  :  they  alfo  faw  many  of  thofe  fquare  pyra- 
midal pillars  which  are  to  be  found  at  Tinian, 

*  The  Guanaco  or  Huamcu  is  the  wild  animal  that  takes  the 
name  of  Llama,  when  it  is  in  a  ftate  of  domefticity*.  This 
quadruped  originally  came  from  the  high  mountains  of  South 
J?nerjcay  and  is  Very  common  in  Peru,  where  it  performs  the 
fame  funétions  as  the  pack-horfe  in  Europe,  and  the  camel  in 
Africa,  The  flefli  of  the  young  guanacoes  is  good  eating.  It 
is  aftonifhing  that  this  animal  Ihould  be  found  on  the  Ifland  of 
Sajpan-,  it  certainly  is  not  indigenous  there;  and  it  muft  be 
fappofed  that  the  Spaniards  have  tranfported  it  thither  from 
Pern,  in  order  to  try  to  propagate  the  breed.  Hitherto,  Byro?/ 
is  the  only  one  who  has  feen  any  of  the  fpecies  in  the  Mary^ 
Anne  Illands  ;  at  lead  no  other  voyager  makes  mention  of  it  ; 
nor  is  it  fpoken  of  in  any  defcription  of  the  Ifland  of  Tlnian  ; 
but  if  the  Spaniards  wifhed  to  try  to  naturalize  it  in  the  Mary^ 
Anne  Illands,  they  muft  have  preferred  making  a  trial  on  Say  pan, 
the  lands  of  which,  more  elevated  than  thofe  of  Timan,  muft  be 
better  faited  to  the  guanaco, 

*  This  fpecies  refembles  the  Glaraa  in  many  particulars  of  its  externa^ 
form;  but  thefe  arrimais  never  intermix,  either  in  the  wild  or  domefticated 
ftate  :  befides  this,  the  Camelus  huanaciiswcii\t.s  the  protuberance  on  the  breaft 
peculiar  to  the  Camelus  glama  \  it  has  a  bunch  on  the  back,  which  the  former 
animal  has  not;  and  its  hind  legs  are  likewife  confiderably  fhorter  in  pr -por- 
tion )  whence  its  gait  is  a  kind  of  bounding  or  hobuUng  -Tranjlatsr, 


and 


46  marchand's  voyage,        [Nov.  1791. 

ànd  which  are  particularly  defcribed  in  the  account 
of  Lord  Anson's  voyage*." 

Captain  Portlock,  who  has  given  us  a  view  of 
Say  PAN,  fays  that,  although  he  coafted  it  within 
the  diftance  of  h^lf  a  mile,  he  could  not  obferve 
on  it  an  animal  of  any  kind  f . 

At  the  firft  fight  of  the  Iflands  of  Tinian  and 
S  AY  pan,  and  efpecially  at  the  afpe6t  of  the  former. 
Captain  Marchand  might  have  been  tempted  to 
land  on  it  :  the  feafon  was  favourable  for  his  an- 
choring there  ;  and  he  might  hope  to  procure 
fome  of  the  refreihments  which  a  long  navigation 
under  the  torrid  zone  occafions  to  be  fo  ardently 
wiflied  for  by  men  overwhelmed  by  the  excefs 
of  a  confiant  heat,  and  for  a  long  time  pail  con- 
demned to  privations.  But  thefe  privations  and 
the  fatigues  of  the  fea  had  not  impaired  the  good 
health  which  his  fhip's  company  had  enjoyed  during 
the  whole  voyage  ;  and  the  interefl:  of  the  expedi- 
tion and  of  the  owners  required  that  he  fhould 
know  how  to  facrifice  a  few  tranfitory  enjoyments 
to  the  inappreciable  advantage  of  getting  the  ftart, 
if  poffible,  in  the  markets  of  China,  of  the  fhips 
of  other  nations  which,  like  the  Solide,  were  to 
bring  thither  furs  from  the  north-west  coafl  of 
America.  The  crew  murmured  not  in  the  lead 
at  a  decifion,  the  motives  of  which  were  known 

*  Ha^kefworth* s  Compilation,    Vol.  I.  page  121. 
+  Port  lock*  s  Vojage,  page  317. 

to 


Nov.  1791-]       marchand's  voyage. 


47 


to  them;  they  even  abftained  from  manlfefting 
any  regret,  that  they  might  not  add  to  that  which 
their  commander  felt  for  others,  much  more  than 
for  himfcif. 

While  the  Solide  is  making  the  beft  of  her 
way  towards  the  continent  of  Asia,  let  us  fix  our 
eyes  for  a  moment  on  the  Ifland  of  Tinian,  with- 
out giving  ourfelves  up  to  a  particular  infpedion 
of  the  other  iflands  that  compofe  the  iong  Archi- 
pelago of  Los  Ladrones  (the  Thieves),  to  which 
it  belongs,  and  which  form  a  chain  of  two  hun- 
dred leagues  under  the  hundred  and  forty-fourth 
meridian  eaft  from  Paris,  between  the  eleventh 
and  the  twenty-firfl:  parallel  North. 

Magellan,  who  difcovered  this  archipelago  in 
1 52 1,  impofed  on  it  the  name  of  Islas  de  los 
Ladrones;  becaufe  the  inhabitants  ofthefe  iflands, 
who  had  no  idea  of  the  exclufive  right  of  property, 
fraternally  appropriated  to  themfelves,  on  board 
his  ihip,  every  thing  that  came  in  their  way  :  but, 
at  this  rate,  that  name  might  be  generic  and  com- 
mon to  all  the  iflands  of  the  Grjeat  Ocean.  In 
the  fequel,  the  Ladrone  Iflands  received  the  name 
of  Islas  de  las  Velas,  from  the  great  number 
of  failing-craft  v/hich  came  from  thefe  iflands  to 
meet  fhips,  when  they  prefented  themfelves  there 
for  the  purpofe  of  anchoring.  Laftly,  towards  the 
middle  of  the  feventeenth  qentury,  they  changed 
their  new  name  for  that  of  the  Mary-Anne 

Iflands, 


4$ 


marchand's  voyage.       [Nov;  1791» 


Iflands,  in  honour  of  Mary-Anne  of  Austria, 
wife  of  Philip  IV. 

In  1564,  or,  according  to  fome  hiftorians,  in 
1565,  Andreas  Micuel  Lopes  Legaspi  took 
pofleffion  of  thefe  iflands  in  the  name  of  the  crown 
of  Spain;  but  he  made  a  fliortftay  there,  becaufe 
.he  neither  found  the  conveniences  that  he  could 
/defire  for  a  fettlement,  nor  the  riches  that  could 
gratify  his  cupidity.  He  employed,  to  more  ad- 
vantage, the  forces  which  he  commanded,  in  the 
conqueft  of  Las  Philippinas,  the  iflands  named 
the  Archipelago  of  San  Lazaro*  by  Magellan, 
who  difcovered  them  in  continuing  his  route 
towards  the  eaft,  after  having  crofled  his  archi- 
pelago of  Los  Ladrones.  It  is  well  know^n  that 
it  was  in  one  of  thefe  iflands  that  Magellan,  a 
Portuguefe  by  birth  f,  then  employed  in  the  fer- 
vice  of  Spain,  loft  his  life,  in  wifliing  to  favour, 
by  the  help  of  his  arms,  the  projeéls  of  conqueft 
of  the  fovereign  of  one  of  thefe  iflands,  at  war 
with  the  fovereign  of  a  neighbouring  ifland,  both 

*  This  name  was  given  them  becaufe  Magellan  made  the  dif- 
covery  of  them,  and  landed  on  them  on  the  Saturday  that  pre- 
ceded P^o«-Sunday,  a  day  which  the  Spaniards  keep  as  a  feftival 
in  honour  of  St*  Lazarus^ 

+  The  real  name  of  this  celebrated  Portuguefe  navigator, 
employed  in  the  fervice  of  Spahz  when  he  difcovered  the  lirait 
which  bears  his  name,  is  Fernando  de  Macalhaens,  of  which 
the  Spaniards  who  v/ilhed  to  naturalize  him  as  a  Spaniard,  made 
Hernando  Magallanes,  and  of  which  the  French  who  wiih 
always  to  tranflate  and  who  often  burlefque  proper  names,  have 
•oijtrivcd  to  make  Magellan, 

of 


Nov.  1791-]       marchand's  voyage.' 


4® 


of  v/hom  were  one  day  to  pafs,  together  with  their 
country,  under  the  domination  of  another  fove- 
reign  who,  at  the  diftance  of  fix  thoufand  leagues, 
and  without  concerning  himfelf  about  them,  was 
to  add  their  iflands  to  his  vaft  domains.  The  im- 
portance of  the  Philippines  had  required  that  the 
Spaniards  fhould  make  it  their  bufmefs  to  get 
pofleffion  of  them,  before  they  thought  of  the 
Mary-Anne  Iflands  :  after  having  terminated 
the  conqueft  of  the  former,  they  formed  there 
various  fettlements  j  and  particularly  that  of  Ma- 
nilla, in  the  Ifland  of  Luconia,  with  which  New 
Spain,  fubdued  by  the  arms,  or  rather  by  the 
genius  of  Cortes,  forty-five  years  before,  opened 
and  maintained  habitual  communications. 

The  Iflands  of  Los  Ladrones  remained  forgot- 
ten (and  it  were  to  be  wifhed  for  the  fake  of  their 
inhabitants  that  they  had  always  been  fo  I)  till  the 
zeal  of  a  celebrated  Jefuit,  Santivores,  interefted 
the  devotion  of  Queen  Mary-Anne  of  Austria, 
regent  during  the  minority  of  her  fon  Charles  11, 
and  excited  her  to  caufe  the  Gopfel  to  be  carried 
into  thefe  iflands,  which  Magellan  had  found 
means  to  annex  to  the  fli are  of  Spain,  by  difco- 
vering  a  new  route,  that  eluded  that  ridiculous 
line  of  demarcation  by  which  a  pope  pretended  to 
cut  the  earth  in  two,  in  order  to  divide  between 
two  fovereigns  of  Europe  the  exclufive  pofleffion 
of  all  the  new  countries  that  fliould  be  difcovered 
in  the  two  Worlds, 

VOL.  II.  E  In 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGË.         [NoV.  pjç^t. 


In  i6SS,  the  Spaniards  prefented  themfelves  at 
the  Mary-Anne  Iflands,  with  the  crofs  in  one 
hand,  and  the  fword  in  the  other  j  and  with  thefc 
two  weapons,  which  lent  each  other  mutual  atdj 
their  pretended  right  to  the  poffefTion  of  thefc 
iflands  could  not  fail  to  be  aclcnowledged.  They 
had  no  difficulty  in  making  themfeives  mafters  of 
GuAHAN  or  GuAHAM,  (and  Guam  by  corruption) 
the  principal  of  thefe  iflands,  and  the  moft  fouthern 
of  the  archipelago*}  and,  by  degrees,  they  fub- 
dued  all  the  others. 

Our  knowledge  of  the  Mary-Anne  Iflands  vas 
derived  only  from  the  Spaniih  hiftorians and 
this  knowledge  was  very  imperferfedl  ;  fome  of 
them  loft  nothing  by  not  being  better  known;  but 
TiNiAN  dcferved  to  be  particularly  defcribed,  be- 
caufe  the  ufurpers  of  the  archipelago  not  having 
eftablifned  themfeives  there,  and  this  ifland  being 
recommendable  on  account  of  its  fertility,  it  might 
aiford  valuable  refources  to  fliips  croffing  the 
Great  Ocean  between  the  tropics,  from  eaft  to 
weft. 

*  This  archipelago  is  compofed  of  nine  princi|5al  iflands: 
Guahauy  the  moft  conuderable  and  the  moft  fouthern,  is  lituated 
in  latitude  i  f  at  its  fouth  point  ;  but  to  the  fouthward  of  this 
ifland,  alfo  lie  feveral  iflots  and  rocks,  the  laft  of  which  extends 
fio  lower  than  the  eleventh  parallel  North. 

+  Ant.  de  Herrtray  Decad,  3,  Lib.  7.  et  {t^,—Arge7ifola  Con^ 
fîùfia  de  las  ijlas  Malucas,  Lib  r.  Gonzales  de  O-viedo.  H'^fi* 
nat.  de  las  Indias — Gomara  Hijî,  gen,  de  las  Indias- — Uliim 
Viifge  al  EJirecho  de  Magalhanes^  ^ c,  page  205  et  alibi, 

w» 


Nov.  1791.]         MARCH AND's  VOYAGE.  ^| 

We  are  indebted  to  Richard  Walter,  chap- 
lain to  Commodore  Anson,  in  his  voyage  round 
the  world,  for  the  firft:  account  that  has  deferved 
the  attention  of  navigators  The  Commodore 
feeking  an  afylum  for  his  Ihip,  which  might  be 
called  a  floating  hofpital,  made  Tinian,  on  the 
ayth  of  Oflober  1742,  and  anchored  in  an  open 
bay,  fituated  at  its  fouth-weft  point  :  here  he  pro- 
vided without  difficulty,  without  expenfe,  and 
abundantly,  for  all  the  wants  of  the  Centurion  : 
here  her  crew  recovered  quickly  from  their  fa- 
tigues :  the  diforder  which,  the  very  day  before 
her  arrival,  was  carrying  off  upwards  of  twenty 
men  a  day,  ccafed,  as  by  à  miracle;  and,  in  left 
than  a  week,  the  worft  of  the  flck  were  fo  far 
recovered,  as  to  be  able  to  walk  without  afTift- 
ance. 

It  was  natural  to  celebrate  an  ifland  to  which  fo 
great  a  number  of  feamen  had  owed  their  lives,  to 
extol  the  quality  of  its  animals,  the  richnefs  of  its 
productions,  the  variety  of  its  fîtes,  the  beauty  of 
its  walks,  the  falubrity  of  its  air,  every  thing  that 
could  operate  a  fort  of  refurredion  :  and,  indeed, 
Anson's  hiftorian  has  painted  to  us  Tinian  as  the 
garden  of  Eden  realized.  But,  if  it  may  be  fuf- 
pe£led  that  gratitude  has  indulged  itfelf  in  exag* 

*  A  Voyage  Round  the  World  in  the  yean  1740,  1741»  ^74^1 
1743,  and  1744,  Book  HI.  Chap.  II. 

I  %  ge  rating 


5-3.  MARCHANd's  VOYAGE.         [NoV-.  Ijgi.;; 

gerating  a  little  the  excellence  of  this  land  of  pfo- 
niife,  at  lead  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  ocular 
hiftorian  having  reported,  with  exadnefs,  fads  con- 
cerning which,  had  his  narrative  been  unfaithful, 
five  hundred  witnefTes,  alfo  ocular,  might  have 
contradided  him:  and  the  comparifon  of  what 
TiNiAN  was  in  Anson's  time,  with  what  it  is  at 
this  day,  prefcnts  one  of  thofe  aftonifhing  con- 
trails which  the  philofopher  cannot  fee  with  indif- 
ference, and  without  tracing  back  the  efFed  to  its 
caufe. 

Commodore  Anson,  who  gives  to  this  ifland 
twelve  miles  in  length  by  fix  in  breadth,  found  it 
uninhabited  at  the  period  when  he  put  in  there 
(  1 742)  ;  but  affiduous  culture,  regular  planta- 
tions, fruit-trees  in  great  number  and  variety, 
monuments  flill  flanding  and  difpofed  in  fymme- 
trical  order,  the  labour  of  man  fhewing  itfelf  every 
where  to  aid  or  embellilh  Nature  -,  all  things  an- 
nounced that,  at  a  period  which  muft  not  have 
been  remote,  a  numerous  population  had  covered 
a  land  that  prefented  to  the  human  race  fo  many 
means  of  fubfiftence,  fo  much  facility  for  multi- 
plying their  fpecies.  Tinian,  in  fadt,  in  a  more 
happy  time,  had  been  very  populous,  in  propor- 
tion to  its  extent,  and  for  the  honour  of  its  new 
mafters,  we  would  wifli  to  refufe  our  belief  to  the 
motive  which  has  completed  its  ruin.  Anson 
learnt  from  a  Spaniili  ferjeant  and  fome  Indians, 

6 ,   .  whom 


Nov.  lygi, J       MARCriANû's  voyage.  |g 

whom  he  had  made  prifoners  in  a  proa  of  which 
his  boat  took  pofleffion  on  going  on  fliore,  that, 
fifty  years  before,  the  Ifland  of  Tinian  reckoned 
upwards  of  thirty  thoufand  inhabitants  ;  and  that, 
at  that  time,  an  epidemical  diforder  having  carried 
off  the  greater  part  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Mary-Anne  Iflands,  the  barbarous  policy  of  the 
ufurpers  turned  over  to  the  Ifland  of  Guahan, 
where  they  were  fettled,  all  the  Indians  whom  the 
mortality  had  fpared  in  Tinian  :  it  unmercifully 
tore  from  a  land,  covered  with  the  bones  of  their 
fathers,  brothers,  wives,  children,  and  friends,  un- 
fortunate beings  who  had  the  mortification  to  fur- 
vive  their  extind  families  ;  it  condemned  them  to 

*  A  Proa,  which  Europeans  call  aifo  a  flymg-proay  is  a  fmall 
failing-veffel,  remarkable  for  its  aftoniftiing  lightnefs,  and  the 
prodigious  velocity  of  its  movement,  which  that  of  no  other 
veffel  can  equal,  and  which  is  afferted  to  be  frequently  twenty 
miles  an  hour.  The  ingenious  conftruélion  of  the  proa  muft  giv^ 
a  great  idea  of  the  intelligence  and  induftry  of  the  ancient  in- 
habitants of  the  Mary. Anne  Iflands,  who  are  the  inventors  of 
it.  We  find,  indeed,  in  feveral  of  the  iflands  of  the  great 
archipelago  of  Afia  and  on  parts  of  that  continent,  fome  veflels 
which  bear  a  faint  refemblance  to  the  prQa\  but  we  know  of 
none  that  can  be  compared  to  it  for  the  flmplicity  of  its  con- 
Uruftion,  the  fwiftnefs  of  its  failing,  the  celerity  with  which 
it  is  managed,  and  the  readinefs  of  its  evolutions  ;  and  it  may 
be  juftly  faid,  that  the  proa  is  the  prototype  that  has  ferved  for 
other  craft  of  the  feas  of  Afia,  which  are  only  the  imperfed  copy 
of  the  moll  perfed  model.  A  very  minute  defcription  of  a  proa 
of  the  Mary. Anne  Iflands,  with  all  the  plans  reduced  to  a  com- 
mon fcale,  which  can  make  known  its  dimenfions,  fl:rudure,  and 
jigging,  is  to  be  feen  in  Anfon^s  voyage.  Book  HI,  Chap.  V. 


water. 


54 


^archand's  voyage.      [Nov.  tf^i. 


water,  with  the  fweat  of  their  brow,  a  foreign  foil. 
But  cupidity  was  difappointed  in  its  calculations  ; 
and  thefe  deplorable  relics  of  Tinian,  with  their 
eyes  inceffantly  fixed  on  their  native  fhore,  died 
in  defpair.  Was  it  then  referved  for  a  nation  of 
Europe,  for  a  civilized  nation,  to  be  the  fcourgc 
of  the  two  Worlds  ?  In  the  New,  they  exterminate 
the  human  fpecies,  in  order  to  tear,  from  the 
bowels  of  the  earth,  metals,  the  objedt  of  all  their 
wiflies,  which  Nature  had  wifely  buried  !  And  in 
the  parts  of  the  Old  World,  which  remotenels  has 
not  been  able  to  conceal  from  their  yoke,  they 
degrade  the  human  fpecies  to  fuch  a  degree,  as 
to  drive  men  from  domain  to  domain,  as  the  far- 
mer pens  up  his  cattle  on  lands  which  he  wiflies  to 
manure  ! 

The  defpair  of  the  inhabitants  of  Tïnïak  will 
appear  natural  to  every  man  who  loves  his  country  : 
and  what  a  country  is  Tinian,  if,  in  fa6b,  Richard 
Walter  has  given  us  a  faithful  piélure  of  this 
idand!  It  is  he  himfelf  who  is  going  to  Ipeak:  I 
will  not  weaken  his  dcfcription:  I  merely  referve 
to  myfelf  the  liberty  of  extrading  and  abridging, 
without  confining  myfelf  always  to  an  uninter- 
rupted tranfcript  ;  but  I  fliall  not  take  the  liberty 
of  making  any  change  that  can  affecl  the  refem- 
blance. 

"  The  foil  of  the  Ifland  of  Tinian,'*  fay& 
Walter,  "  is  every  where  dry  and  healthy,  and 
being  withal  fomewhat  fandy^  it  is  theieby  the  lefs 

difpofed 


■NoV".  1791.]      MarcMand's  voyage. 

tiifpofed  to  a  rank  and  over-luxuriant  vegetation  ; 
and  hence  the  meadows  and  the  bottom  of  the 
Woods  are  much  neater  and  fmoother  than  is  cuf» 
tomary  in  hot  climates.  The  land  rofe  in  gentle 
(lopes  from  the  very  beach  where  we  watered,  to 
the  middle  of  the  ifland,  though  the  general  courfe 
of  its  afcent  was  often  interrupted  by  vailles  of 
an  eafy  defcent,  many  of  which  wind  irregularly- 
through  the  country.  Thefe  vailles  and  the  gra* 
dual  fwellings  of  the  ground,  which  their  different 
combinations  gave  rife  to,  were  moft  beautifully 
diverfified  by  the  mutual  encroachments  of  woods 
and  lawns,  which  coafled  each  other,  and  traverfed 
the  ifland  in  large  trads.  The  woods  confided  of 
tall  and  well-fpread  trees,  the  greater  part  of 
them,  celebrated  either  for  their  afped,  or  their 
fruit:  while  the  lawns  were  ufually  of  a  confider* 
able  breadth,  their  turf  quite  clean  and  uniform^ 
it  being  compofed  of  a  very  fine  trefoil,  which 
was  intermixed  with  a  variety  of  flowers*  The 
woods  too  were  in  many  places  open  and  free 
from  all  bufhes  and  underwood,  fo  that  they  ter- 
minated on  the  lawns  with  a  well-defined  outline, 
where  neither  fhrubs  nor  weeds  were  to  be  feen  ; 
but  the  neatnefs  of  the  adjacent  turf  was  fre- 
quently extended  to  a  confiderable  diftance,  under 
the  hollow  fhade  formed  by  the  trees.  Hence 
arofe  a  great  number  of  the  moft  elegant  and  enter- 
taining profpeds,  according  to  the  different  blend* 
mgs  of  thefe  woods  and  lawns,  and  their  various 

E  4  iBter- 


56 


MARCHAND's  VOYAGE.         [NoV.  I79I. 


interfedlions  with  each  other,  as  they  fpread  them- 
felves  differently  through  the  vallies,  and  over  the 
flopes  and  declivities  in  v>^hich  the  pj,*ce  abounded. 

Nor  were  the  allurements  of  Tinian  confined 
to  the  excellency  of  its  landfcapes  only  -,  fince  the 
fortunate  animals  which,  during  the  greatefl  part 
of  the  year  (except,  indeed,  when  the  Spaniards 
come  and  diflurb  their  folicude  for  the  purpofe 
of  fupplying  Guahan  with  provifions)  are  the 
folc  lords  of  this  happy  foil,  partake,  in  fome 
meafure,  of  the  romantic  cafl  of  the  ifland,  and 
are  no  fmall  addition  to  its  wonderful  fcenery  :  for 
the  cattle,  of  which  it  is  not  uncommon  to  fee 
herds  of  fome  thoufands  feeding  together  in  a  large 
meadow,  are  certainly  the  moft  remarkable  in  the 
world  ;  as  they  are  all  of  them  milk-white,  except 
their  ears,  which  are  generally  brown  or  black. 
And  though  there  are  no  inhabitants  here,  yet  the 
clamour  and  frequent  parading  of  domeflic  poul- 
try, which  range  the  woods  in  great  numbers, 
perpetually  excite  the  idea  of  the  neighbourhood 
of  farms  and  villages,  and  greatly  contribute  to 
the  cheerfulnefs  and  beauty  of  the  place." 

"  The  cattle  on  Tinian,"  continues  Walter, 
we  computed  were  ai  leafl  ten  thoufand  *  ;  we 

had 

*  This  number  is  very  confiderable  for  an  ifland  which, 
according  to  the  account,  is  not  more  than  four  leagues  in  length 
by  two  leagues  in  breadth  ;  for,  fuppofing,  which  is  not  the 
cafe,  that  it  had  the  figure  of  a  parallelogram  (and  this  is  that 


InIov.  1791.]         M  ARC  H  AND 's  VOYAGE., 

had  no  difficulty  in  getting  near  them,  for  they 
were  not  at  all  fhy  of  us.  Our  firft  method  of 
killing  them  -was  fhoocing  them  j  but,  at  lafl^ 
when,  by  accidents  to  be  hereafter  recited,  we 
were  obU2;ed  to  hulband  our  ammunition,  our  men 
ran  them  down  with  eafe.  Their  flefh  was  ex- 
tremely well-tailed,  and  was  believed  by  us  to  be 
much  more  eafily  digefted  than  any  we  had  ever 
m.et  with.  The  fowls  too  were  exceedingly  good, 
and  were  likewife  run  down  with  little  trouble  > 
for  they  could  fcarce  fiy  farther  than  a  hundred 
yards  at  a  flight,  and  even  that  fatigued  them  to  fuch 
a  degree,  that  they  could  not  readily  rife  again  ; 
fo  that,  aided  by  the  opennefs  of  the  woods,  v/e 
could  at  all  times  furnifh  ourfelves  with  whatever 
number  we  wanted. 

"  Befides  the  cattle  and  the  poultry,  we  found 
here  abundance  of  wild  hogs  :  thefe  were  moft 
excellent  food  j  but  as  they  were  a  very  fierce  ani- 


of  the.greateft  furface),  its  fuperficies  would  yet  be  only  eight 
leagues  fquare;  but  its  figure  is  that  of  a  very  elongated  ellipfis, 
•which  is  reduced  almoft  to  nothing  at  the  two  extremities  of  its 
great  axis  :  and  if  we  dedud  from  its  furface,  that  of  the  two 
great  pieces  of  water  which  occupy  the  middle  of  the  ifland,  and 
the  moft  elevated  parts  of  the  woody  hills,  on  which  it  is  not 
probable  that  the  herds  fhould  graze,  we  may  reduce  the  furface 
of  the  ground,  on  which  the  cattle  found  their  food,  to  four  fquare 
leagues  at  moft  :  each  league  v»^ould  then  have  fed  t^vo  tho!{fand 
five  hundred  oxen  !  ought  not  alfo  fome  reduâilon  to  b€  made 
in  the  thirty  thou/and  hihah'itants  that  the  Spaniards  fuppofed 
this  illand  to  contain  before  its  depopulation  ? 

11"  a  f. 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGÉ.         [NoV.  iy^ii 


ttialj  we  Were  obliged  cither  to  flioot  them,  or  to 
hunt  them  with  large  dogs,  which  we  found  upon 
the  place  at  our  landing,  and  which  belonged  to 
the  detachment  that  was  then  upon  the  ifland 
amafllng  provifions  for  the  garrifon  of  Guahan. 
As  thefe  dogs  had  been  purpofely  trained  to  the 
killing  of  the  wild  hogs,  they  followed  us  very 
readily,  and  hunted  for  . us  ;  but  though  they  were 
a  large,  bold  breed,  the  hogs  fought  with  fo  much 
fury,  that  they  frequently  deftroyed  them  -,  whence 
we  by  degrees  loft  the  greateft  part  of  them. 

"  This  place  was  not  only  extremely  grateful 
to  us  from  the  plenty  and  excellence  of  its  frefh 
provifions,  but  was  as  much,  perhaps,  to  be  ad^ 
mired  on  account  of  its  fruits  and  vegetable  pro- 
du6lions,  which  were  moft  fortunately  adapted  to 
the  cure  of  the  fea-fcurvy,  the  difeafe  which  had 
fo  terribly  reduced  us.  For  in  the  woods  there 
were  inconceivable  quantities  of  cocoa-nuts,  with 
the  cabbages  growing  on  the  fame  tree  :  there  were, 
be  fides,  guavoes,  limes,  fweet  and  four  oranges, 
and  a  kind  of  fruit  peculiar  to  thefe  iflands,  called 
by  the  Indians  Rhymay^  but  by  us  the  bread-fruit, 
for  it  was  conftantly  eaten  by  us  during  our  ftay 
upon  the  ifland  inftead  of  bread,  and  fo  univerfally 
preferred  to  it,  that  no  fliip's  bread  wa^  expended 
during  that  whole  interval       Bcfides  the  fruits 

already 

♦  At  the  time  when  Walter  wrote,  the  bread-fruit  tree  arid 
its  fruit  were  little  known  ;  but  the  voyagers  of  thefe  latter 

times 


Nov.  179*  •]        MARCHAtJD*S  VOVAGE. 


already  enumerated,  there  were  many  other  vege-^ 
tables  extremely  conducive  to  the  cure  of  the  ma- 
lady we  had  long  laboured  under,  fuch  as  water- 
melons, dandelion,  creeping  purflain,  mint,  fcurvy- 
grafs,  and  forrel  -,  all  which,  together  with  the 
frefh  meats  of  the  place,  we  devoured  with  great 
eagernefs,  prompted  thereto  by  the  ftrong  incli-*- 
nation  which,  in  fcorbutic  diforders.  Nature  never 
fails  of  exciting  for  thofe  powerful  fpecifics. 

It  will  eafily  be  conceived  from  what  hath 
been  already  faid,  that  our  cheer  upon  this  ifland 
was  in  fome  degree  luxurious  ;  but  I  have  not  yet 
recited  all  the  varieties  of  provifion  which  we  here 
indulged  in.  Indeed,  we  thought  it  prudent 
totally  to  abftain  from  fifh,  the  few  we  caught  at 
our  firft:  arrival  having  furfeited  thofe  who  eat  of 
them  ;  but  confidering  how  much  we  had  been 
inured  to  that  fpecies  of  food,  we  did  not  regard 
this  circumftance  as  a  difadvantage,  efpecially  as 
the  defe6b  was  fo  amply  fupplied  by  the  beef,  pork, 
and  fowls  already  mentioned,  and  by  great  plenty 
of  wild  fowl  ;  for  it  is  to  be  remembered,  that, 
near  the  centre  of  the  ifland  there  were  two  con- 


times  have  defcribed  it  fo  well,  that  I  difpenfe  with  tranf- 
cribing  the  defcription  given  of  it  by  An/on' s  hiflorian.  How* 
ever,  it  might  fo  happen,  that  in  reading  this  defcription,  a 
jiaturalift  might  perceive  fome  difference  between  the  bread-fruit 
tree  of  Tinian,  and  that  which  is  a  produdion  common  to  all 
the  iflands  of  the  Great  Ocean  fituated  between  the  tropics. 


4 


fiderable 


6o  marchand's  voyage.      [Nov.  1791; 

liderable  pieces  of  frefh  water,  which  abounded 
with  duck,  teal,  and  curlew  :  not  to  mention  the 
whiftling-plover,  which  we  found  there  in  pro- 
digious plenty. 

Having  briefly  recounted  the  conveniences  of 
this  place,  the  excellence  and  quantity  of  its  fruits 
and  provifions,  the  neatnefs  of  its  lawns,  the  ftate- 
linefs,  frefhnefs,  and  fragrance  of  its  weods,  the 
happy  inequality  of  its  furface,  and  the  variety 
and  elegance  of  the  views  it  afforded,  I  mufl:  now 
obferve  that  all  thefe  advantages  were  greatly  en- 
hanced by  the  healthinefs  of  the  climate,  by  the 
almoft  confiant  breezes  which  prevail  there,  and 
by  the  frequent  fhowers  which  fell  ;  for  thefe,  in- 
ftead  of  the  heavy,  continued  rains  which,  in  fome 
countries,  render  great  part  of  the  year  fo  un- 
pleafmg,  were  ufually  of  very  fhort  and  almoft 
momentary  duration.  Hence  they  were  extremely 
grateful  and  refrefhing;  and  were,  perhaps,  one 
caufe  of  the  falubrity  of  the  air,  and  of  the  ex^^ 
traordinary  influence  it  was  obferved  to  have  upon 
us,  increafing  and  invigorating  our  appetites  and 
digeftion. 

"  After  giving  thefe  large  encomiums  to  this 
ifland,  in  which,  however,  1  conceive,  I  have  not 
done  it  juftice  ;  it  is  neceffary  I  fhould  fpeak  o,f 
thofe  circumftances  in  which  it  is  defedive,  whether 
in  point  of  beauty  or  utility.  And  firft,  with  re- 
fpe6t  to  its  water,  I  muft  own,  that,  before  I  had 
feen  this  fpot,  I  did  not  conceive  that  the  abfence 

Of 


Nov.  1791  •]        MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE^  6t 

of  running  water,  of  which  it  is  entirely  deftitutc, 
could  have  been  fo  well  replaced  by  any  other 
means,  as  it  is  in  this  ifland  -,  fmce,  though  there 
are  no  ftreams,  yet  the  water  of  the  wells  and 
fprings,  which  are  to  be  met  with  every  where 
near  the  furface,  is  extremely  good  -,  and  in  the 
midft  of  the  ifland  there  are  two  or  three  con- 
fiderable  pieces  of  excellent  water,  the  turf  of 
whofe  banks  was  as  clean,  as  even,  and  as  regularly 
difpofed,  as  if  they  had  been  bafons  purpofely 
made  for  the  decoration  of  the  place.  It  muft, 
however,  be  confefled,  that  with  regard  to  the 
beauty  of  thej  proipeâs,  the  want  of  rills  and 
ftreams  is  a  very  great  defed,  not  to  be  compen- 
fated  either  by  large  pieces  of  (landing  water,  or 
by  the  neighbourhood  of  the  fea,  though  that, 
from  the  fmallnefs  of  the  ifland,  generally  makes 
a  part  of  every  extenfive  landfcape. 

"  As  to  the  refidence  upon  the  ifland,  the  prin- 
cipal inconvenience  attending  it  is  the  vail  num- 
bers of  mufkitoes,  and  various  other  fpecies  of 
flies,  together  with  an  infed  called  a  tick  j  this, 
though  principally  attached  to  the  cattle,  would 
yet  frequently  fallen  upon  our  limbs  and  bodies, 
and,  if  not  perceived  and  removed  in  time,  would 
bury  its  head  under  the  fkin,  and  raife  a  painful 
inflammation.  We  found  here  too  centipedes  and 
fcorpions,  which  we  fuppofed  were  venomous, 
though  none  of  us  ever  received  any  injury  from 
them. 

"  But 


6 s  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.         [NoV.  179t. 

"  But  the  mott  important  and  formidable  ex- 
ception to  this  place  remains  ftill  to  be  told. 
This  is  the  inconvenience  of  the  road,  and  the 
little  fecurity  there  is,  in  fome  feafons,  for  a  (hip 
at  anchor.  The  only  proper  anchoring-place  for 
fhips  of  burden  is  at  the  fouth-weft  end  of  the 
ifland  ;  the  peak  of  Saypan,  feen  over  the  northern 
part  of  Saypan,  and  bearing  north-north-eaft  half 
caft,  is  a  direction  for  readily  finding  it  -,  the  an- 
choring place  is  then  eight  miles  diftant.  Here 
the  Centurion  anchored  in  twenty~tv;o  fathoms 
"water,  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  fhore, 
oppofite  to  a  fandy  bay.  The  bottom  of  this  road 
is  full  of  ftiarp-pointed  coral  rocks,  which,  during 
four  months  of  the  year,  that  is,  from  the  middle 
of  June  to  the  middle  of  OBohery  render  it  a  very 
unfafe  anchorage.  This  is  the  feafon  of  the  weftern 
monfoons,  when,  near  the  full  and  change  of  the 
moon,  but  more  particularly  at  the  change,  the 
wind  is  ufually  variable  all  round  the  compafs, 
and  feldom  fails  to  blow  with  fuch  fury,  that  the 
ftouteft  cables  are  not  to  be  confided  in.  What 
adds  to  the  danger  at  thefe  times,  is  the  exceffive 
rapidity  of  the  tide  of  flood  which  fets  to  the  fouth- 
caft,  between  this  iOand  and  that  of  Aguigan,  a 
fmall  iflot  near  the  fouthern  extremity  of  Tinian, 
which,  in  the  galleon's  chart,  is  reprefcnted  only 
by  a  dot.  This  tide  runs  at  firft  with  a  vaft  head 
and  overfall  of  water,  occafioning  fuch  a  hollow 
and  overgrown  fea,  as  is  fcarcely  to  be  conceived  ; 

fo 


NoV^  1791-]        MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE,  63 

fo  that  we  were  under  the  dreadful  apprehcnfion 
of  being  pooped  by  it,  though  we  were  in  a  fixty 
gun  ùiïp.  In  the  remaining  eight  months  of  the 
year,  that  is,  from  the  middle  of  OEloher  to  the 
middle  of  Jme^  there  is  a  confiant  Teafon  of  fet- 
tled weather;  when,  if  the  cables  are  but  well 
armed,  there  is  fcarcely  any  danger  of  their  being 
even  rubbed  ;  fo  that  during  all  that  interval,  it 
is  as  fecure  a  road  as  could  be  wifhed  for.  I  jQiall 
only  add,  that  the  anchoring  bank  is  very  flielving, 
and  ftretches  along  the  fouth-weft  end  of  the  ifland, 
and  is  entirely  free  from  Ihoals,  except  a  reef  of 
rocks  which  is  vifible,  and  lies  about  half  a  mile 
from  the  fliore,  affording  a  narrow  paffage  into  a 
fmall  fandy  bay,  which  is  the  only  place  where 
boats  can  pofTibly  land*." 

Such  was  the  Ifland  of  Tinian,  when  Commo^ 
dore  Anson  quitted  it  towards  the  end  of  the 
month  of  Odtober  1742.  The  only  fault  that  çould 
then  be  found  with  it,  was,  that  it  afforded  no 
harbours,  no  roadftead  where  fhips  could  anchor 
in  fafety  ;  and  it  fcems  that  Nature,  who  had 
beflowed  every  thing  on  the  land  of  this  favoured 
ifland,  was  determined  to  refufc  every  thing  to 
the  fea  that  wafhes  its  coaft  :  for  it  has  been  feea 
that  the  fifh  there  is  not  good,  and  the  anchorage 
is  no  better.  Twice  had  the  Centurion  her 
cables  cut  by  the  fhàrp  coral  rocks,  with  which 


*  AnfQttU  Va^agey  Book  III.  Chap,  II. 

the 


64 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.         [NoV.  î/pi* 


the  bottom  is  ftrewn  ;  twice  was  fhe  driven  out 
to  Tea;  and  it  was  not  without  much  difficulty  that 
file  could  regain  her  anchorage,  to  the  very  great 
fatisfadlion  of  that  part  of  her  officers  and  crew, 
which  had  been  left  on  fhore  by  fo  precipitate  and 
neceffary  a  departure. 

I  have  not  (lopped  to  defcribe  thofe  ancient 
monuments  which  were  found  in  the  iOand,  thofe 
double  lymmetrical  rows  of  fquare  pyramidal  pil- 
lars, meafuring  about  five  feet  at  the  bafe  and 
thirteen  feet  in  heighu,  each  furmounted  by  a  femi- 
globe,  with  the  flat  furface  upwards,  and  which,  at 
a  diftance,  prefents  the  appearance  of  a  large  bowl. 
Of  thefe,  a  defcription  may  be  read,  and  a  draw- 
ing feen,  in  Richard  Walter's  narrative Ac- 
cording to  the  account  of  the  Spanifli  prifoners, 
thefe  pillars  muft  have  belonged  to  fome  Indian 
monafteries,  and  this  particularity  would  alone  be 
fufficient  to  atteft  the  ancient  population  of  'the 
ifland  :  in  all  the  countries  of  Asia,  the  monks 
cftablifli  themfelves  wherever  numbers  of  inhabi- 
tants can  feed  their  idlenefs  ;  and  they  mufl:  needs 
have  been  very  numerous  on  Tin i an,  for  there 

*  The  pillars  and  the  femi-globes  by  which  they  were  fur-. 
mounted,  were  folid,  and  formed  of  a  compofition  of  ftone  and 
fand,  covered  with  plafter  ;  but  as  the  voyagers  who  vifited 
'Thtifm  2  2  years  after  the  voyage  of  Anfo7iy  make  no  mention 
of  them,  we  muft  fuppofe  that,  in  this  ^interval,  time  reduced 
them  to  duft.  However,  when  in  1765,  Byroii  caufed  the  Ifland 
cf  ^î^/rf/^  to  be  vifited,  x\iQ,  Tamar' s  people  there  found  pillars 
fimilar  to  thofe  of  Timapy  and  which  were  ftill  ftanding. 

is 


NoVi  1791 -]        MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE* 


65 


is  no  part  of  the  ifland  on  which  Anson  did  not 
meet  with  fome  of  thefe  decorations  of  pyramidal 
pillars.  And  how  fhould  men,  addided  to  con- 
te mplation,  not  have  abounded  in  a  country  where 
Nature,  rich  and  beautiful,  affords  eternal  verdure, 
fites  pi6lurefque  and  diverfified,  trees  loaded  with 
blofToms  and  fruits,  meadows  enamelled  with 
odoriferous  flowers,  woods  whofe  facred  fliade  in- 
vites to  meditation  and  feems  to  command  filence  j 
a  country,  in  fhort,  where  the  beauty  of  the 
climate,  mà'.  thc  falubrîty  of  the  air,  remove 
difeafes,  and  retard  the  fatal  period  in  which  every 
thing  is  confounded  ? 

It  is  with  regret  that  we  are  going  to  quit 
Anson's  Tinian,  in  order  to  fix  our  eyes  on  the 
TiNiAN  of  which  the  navigators  of  thefe  latter 
times  have  drawn  us  the  picture.  Both,  no  doubt, 
have  painted  what  they  faw;  and  of  this  fadt 
we  mufl  be  certain,  to  believe  that,  within  the 
lapfe  of  barely  four  luftres,  the  face  of  every  thing 
has  been  changed* 

Commodore  Bvron  put  into  Tinian  on  the 
of  July  1765,  ànd  anchored  in  the  fame 
road,  fituated  near  the  fouth-weft  point,  which 
Commodore  Anso^  had  occupied  twenty-one 
jrcars  and  a  half  before.  Impatient  to  contem- 
plate thofc  ravifhing  fcenes,  thofe  vaft  meadows 
enamelled  with  flowers  where  herds  of  cattle  of 
a  dazzlbg  whitenefs  feed  at  liberty  -,  impatient 
to  breathe,  with  a  pure  air,  that  delicious  per- 

voL.  II,  F  fume 


66  marchand's  voyage.      [Nov.  1791- 

fume  exhaled  by  the  odoriferous  produ6tlons  of 
the  earth,  "  as  foon  as  the  ihip  was  fecured,"  fays 
thé  Commodore  ;  I  went  on  fhore  to  fix  upon 
a  place  where  tents  might  be  erefled  for  the 
fick.  We  found  feveral  huts  which  had  been  left 
by  the  Spaniards  the  year  before  j  for  this  year 
none  of  them  had  as  yet  been  at  the  place,  nor 
was  it  probable  that  they  would  come  for  fome 
months,  the  fun  being  almoft  vertical,  and  the 
rainy  feafon  fet  in.  After  I  had  fixed  upon  a  fpoc 
for  the  tents/'  continues  the  Comniodore,  fix 
or  feven  of  us  endeavoured  to  pufh  through  the 
woods,  that  we  might  come  at  the  beautiful  lawns 
and  meadov/s  of  which  there  is  fo  luxuriant  a 
defcriprion  in  the  account  of  Lord  Anson's  Voyage, 
and,  if  poffible,  kiii  ibmc  catde.  The  trees  flood 
fo  thick,  and  the  place  was  fo  overgrown  with 
underwôod,  that  we  could  not  fee  three  yards 
before  us  5  we  therefore  were  obliged  to  keep 
contintially  hallooing  to  each  other,  to  prevent 
our  being  feparately  loft  in  this  tracklefs  wilder- 
nefs.  As  the  weather  was  intolerably  hot,  we  had 
nothing  on  befides  our  (hoes,  except  our  fhirts 
and  trowfers,  and  thefe  were,  in  a  very  fhort  time, 
torn  all  to  rags  by  the  bufhes  and  brambles  :  at 
laft,  however,  with  incredible  difficulty  and  labour 
we  got  through  -,  but,  to  our  great  furprife  and 
difappointmentj  we  found  the  country  very  differ- 
ent from  the  account  we  bad  read  of  it:  the 
lawns  were  entirely  overgrown  with  a  ilubborn 

kind 


Nov.  1791.]         MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE, 


kind  of  reed  or  brufh,  in  many  places  higher 
than  our  heads,  and  no  where  lower  than  our 
middles,  which  cCntinually  entangled  our  legs,  and 
cut  us  like  whipcord.  During  this  march  wc 
were  alfo  coveï'ed  with  flies  from  head  to  foot; 
and,  whenever  we  offered  to  fpeak,  we  were  fure 
of  having  a  mouthful,  many  of  which  never  failed 
to  get  down  our  throats.  After  we  had  walked 
about  three  or  four  miles,  we  got  fight  of  a  bull, 
Vvhith  we  killed,  and,  a  little  before  night,  we 
got  back  to  the  beach,  as  wet  as  if  we  had  been 
dipt  ill  water,  and  fo  fatigued  that  we  were  fcarcely 
able  to  ftand.  We  immediately  fent  out  a  party 
to  fetch  the  bull,  and  found  that,  during  our 
cxcurfion,  fome  tents  had  been  got  up,  and  the 
fick  brought  on  fhore. 

The  next  day  our  people  were  em.ployed  in 
fetting  up  more  tents,  getting  the  water-cafks 
on  (bore,  and  clearing  the  Well  at  which  they 
were  to  be  filled.  This  well  I  imagined  to  be 
the  fame  that  the  Centurion  Watered  at;  but  it 
was  the  word  that  we  had  met  with  during  the 
voyage,  for  the  water  was  not  only  brackifli,  but 
full  of  worms.  The  road  alfo  where  the  fhrps 
lay  was  a  dangerous  fituation  at  this  ftaibn  ;  for 
the  bottom  is  hard  fand  and  large  coral  rocks, 
and  the  anchor  having  no  hold  in  the  fand,  is  in 
perpetual  danger  of  being  cut  to  pieces  by  the 
coral  ;  to  prevent  which  as  much  as  pofiible, 
I  rounded  the  cables/  and  buoyed  them  up  with 

F  2  empty 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.        [Nov.  17^ î. 


empty  watcr-caflcs.  Another  precaution  alfo  was 
taught  me  by  experience  ;  for  at  firft  I  moored^ 
but  finding  the  cables  much  damaged  I  refolved 
to  lie  fmgle  for  the  future,  that  by  veering  away 
or  heaving  in,  as  we  fhould  have  more  or  lefs 
wind,  we  might  always  keep  them^  from  being 
flack,  and  confequently  from  rubbing  ;  and  this 
expedient  fucceeded  to  my  wifh.  At  the  full  and 
change  of  the  moon,  a  prodigious  l\vell  tumbles 
in,  fo  that  I  never  faw  fhips  at  anchor  roll  fo 
much  as  ours  did  while  we  lay  here  ;  and  it  once 
drove  in  from  the  weftward  with  fuch  violence, 
and  broke  fo  high  upon  the  reef  that  I  was  obliged 
to  put  to  fcd,  for  a  week  ;  for,  if  our  cable  had 
parted  in  the  night,  and  the  wind  had  been  upon 
the  fhorey  which  fbmetimes  happens  for  two  or 
three  days  together,  the  iTiip  muft  inevitably  have 
been  loft  upon  the  rocks. 

I  foon  found  that  the  ifland  produced  limes,, 
four  oranges,  cocoa-nuts,  bread-fruit,  guavas,  and 
paupaws*  in  great  abundance  j  but  we  found  no 
water-melons,  fcurvy-grafs,.  or  forreL 

"  Notwithftaiiding  the  fatigue  and  diftrefs  that 
we  had  endured,  and  the  various  climates  we  had 
pafled  through,  neither  of  die  ihips  (the  Dolphin 

*  It  appears  that  the  fweet  orange  was  no  longer  to  be  found- 
in  the  ifland,  in  Bjrofi's  time,  for  he  does  not  fpeak  of  it;,  but 
he  found  there  the  papaw,  of  which  no  mention  is  made  in ^«/««'i: 
narrative:  have  the  Spaniards  conveyed  thither  the  papaw- 
tree.? 

andi 


Nov.  1791.]      mauchand's  voyage.  -6:^ 

and  the  TAMAR),  had  yet  loft  a  fingk  man  fince 
their  failing  from  England  ;  but,  while  we  lay 
here,  two  died  of  fevers,  a  difeafe  with  which  many 
were  feized,  though  we  all  recovered  very  faft  from 
the  fcurvy.  I  am,  indeed,  of  opinion  that  this  is 
one  of  the  moft  unhealthy  fpots  in  the  world,  at 
leaft  during  the"  feafon  in  which  we  were  here. 
The  rains  were  violent,  and  almoft  inceffant,  and 
the  heat  was  fo  great  as  to  threaten  us  with  fufFo- 
cation. 

"  Befides  the  inconvenience  which  we  fufFered 
from  the  weather,  we  were  incelTantly  tormented 
ty  the  flies  in  the  day,  and  by  the  mufkitoes 
in  the  night.  The  ifland  alfo  fwarms  with  cen- 
tipedes and  fcorpions,  and  a  large  black  ant, 
fcarcely  inferior  to  either  in  the  malignity  of  its 
bitee  Befides  thefe,  there  were  venomous  infeds 
without  number,  altogether  unknown  to  us,  by 
which  many  of  us  fuffered  fo  feverely  that  we  were 
afraid  to  lie  down  in  our  beds  5  nor  were  thofo 
on  board  in  a  much  better  fituation  than  thofd 
on  fhore,  for  great  numbers  of  thcfe  creatures 
being  carried  into  the  fliip  with  the  wood,  they 
took  pofTeffion  of  every  birth,  and  left  the  poor 
feamen  no  place  of  reft  either  below  or  upon  the 
deck. 

As  foon  as  we  were  fettled  in  our  new  ha- 
bitations, I  fent  out  parties  to  difcovcr  the  haunts 
of  the  cattle,  fome  of  which  were  found,  but  at 
a  great  diftance  from  the  tents,  and  the  beaft^î 

F  3  -  were 


7©  marchand's  voyage.       [Nov.  1791. 

were  fo  fhy  that  it  was  very  difficult  to  get  a 
Ihot  at  them.  Some  of  the  parties  which,  when 
•  their  haunts  had  been  difcovered,  were  Tent  out  to 
kill  them,  were  abfent  three  days  and  nights  before 
they  could  fuccced  ;  and  when  a  bullock  had  been 
dragged  feven  or  eight  miles,  through  fuch  woods 
and  lawns  as  have  juft  been  defcribed,  to  the  tents, 
it  was  generally  full  of  fly-blows,  and  dunk  fo 
as  to  be  unfit  for  ufe  :  nor  was  this  the  worft,  for 
the  fatigue  of  the  men  in  bringing  down  the  carcafs, 
and  the  intolerable  heat  they  fuffered  from  the 
climate  and  the  labour,  frequently  brought  on 
fevers  which  laid  them  up.  Poultry,  hov/ever,  we 
procured  on  eafier  terms  :  there  was  great  pircnty 
of  birds,  and  they  were  eafily  killed  ;  but  the  flefli 
of  the  beft  of  them  was  very  ill-tafted  ;  and  fuch 
was  the  heat  of  the  climate  that,  within  an  hour 
after  they  were  killed,  it  was  as  green  as  grafs, 
and  fwarmed  with  maggots.  Our  principal  refort 
for  frefh  meat,  was  the  wild  hog,  with  which  the 
ifland  abounds.  Thefe  creatures  are  very  fierce, 
and  fome  of  them  fo  large  that  a  carcafs  frequently 
weighed  two  hundred  pounds.  We  killed  them 
without  much  difficulty,  but  a  black  belonging  to 
the  Tamar  contrived  a  method  to  fnare  them,  fo 
that  we  took  great  numbers  of  them  alive,  which 
was  an  unfpcakable  advantage;  for  it  not  only  in- 
fured  our  eating  the  flefh  while  it  was  fweet,  but 
enabled  us  to  fend  a  good  number  of  them  on 
board  as  fea-ftores. 


Nov.  1791.]      Marchandas  voyage,  71 

"  In  the  mean  time/*  adds  the  Commodore, 
we  were  very  defirbus  of  procuring  fome  beef 
in  an  eatable  ftate,  with  lefs  rifk  and  labour  ; 
and  Mr.  Gore,  one  of  our  mates,  at  laft  difco- 
verèd  a  pleafant  fpot  upon  the  north- weft  part 
of  the  ifland,  where  cattle  were  in  great  plenty, 
and  whence  they  might  be  brought  to  the  tents 
by  fea.  To  this  place  therefore  I  difpatched  a  party, 
with  a  tent  for  their  accommodation,  and  fent  the 
boats  everyday  to  fetch  what  they  fhould  kills 
fometimcs,  however,  there  broke  fuch  a  fea  upon 
the  rocks  that  it  was  impofîible  to  approach  them, 
and  the  Tamar's  boat  unhappily  loft  three  of  her 
beft  men  in  attempting  it.  We  were  now,  upon 
the  whole,  pretty  well  fupplied  with  provifions, 
efpecially  as  we  baked  frcfti  bread  every  day  for 
the  fick  J  and  the  fatigue  of  our  people  being  lefs, 
there  were  fewer  ill  with  the  fever  :  but  feveral  of 
them  were  fo  much  difordercd  by  eating  of  a 
very  fine  looking  fifh  which  we  caught  here,  that 
their  recovery  was  for  a  long  time  doubtful.  The 
author  of  the  account  of  Lord  Anson's  voyage 
fays  that  the  people  on  board  the  Centurion 
thought  it  prudent  to  abftain  from  fi{h,  as  the  ftw 
which  they  caught  on  their  firft  arrival  furfeited 
thofe  who  eat  of  them.  But  not  attending  fuffi- 
cicntly  to  this  caution,  and  too  haftily  taking  the 
word  Jurfeit  in  its  literal  and  common  acceptation, 
we  imagined  that  thofe  who  tafted  the  tifli  when 
Lord  Anson  firft  came  hither,  were  made  fick  by 

F  4  '  merely 


MARCHANP'S  VOYAGE.         [Nov.  I79I. 


merely  eating  too  much;  whereas^  if  that  had 
been  the  cafe,  there  would  have  been  no  reafon 
for  totally  abftaining  afterwards^,  but  only  eating 
temperately.  We,  however,  bought  our  know- 
ledge by  experience,  which  we  might  have  had 
cheaper;  for,  though  all  our  people  who  tafted 
this  fifh,  eat  fparingly,  they  were  all  foon  after- 
wards dangeroufly  ill. 

*^  Befides  the  fruit  that  has  been  mentioned 
already,  this  ifland  produces  cotton  and  indigo  iq 
abundance,  and  would  certainly  be  of  great  value 
if  it  was  fituated  in  the  West  Indîçs*.'* 

Such  was  the  ftate  in  which  the  Ifland  of  Tini^n 
prefented  itfelf  to  Commodore  Byron,  during  th« 
{lay  that  he  made  there  in  1765,  from  the  31ft  of 
July  to  the  ift:  of  Odober. 

Captain  Wallis,  who  vifited  it  in  the  month 
of  September  1767,  draws  of  it  a  pidure  neither 
more  flattering,  nor  better  calculated  for  retracing 
to  us  the  charms  of  the  Tinian  defcribed  by  Com- 
modore Anson.  He  fays,  however,  that  the 
hunters,  whom  he  had  fent  out  on  the  day  of  his 
arrival,  brought  in  a  fine  young  bull  of  near  four 
hundred  weight:  and  that  in  this  place  he  got 
beef,  pork,  poultry,  papaw-apples,  bread-fruit, 
limes,  oranges,  and  every  refrefhment  that  is  men- 
tioned in  the  account  of  Lord  Anson's  voyage; 

*  See  Hauukepworth^s  Comfilatm^  Vol.  I,  p.  116  and 
following. 

but 


Nov.  179  !•]        MARCH  AN  d's  VOYAGE. 


73 


but  that  fîefii  meat  could  be  fcareelykept  fweet 
one  day.  There  had  been  many  cocoa-nut  trees 
near  the  landing-place,'*  continues  he  s  "  but  they 
had  been  all  waftefully  cut  down  for  the  fruit,  and 
none  being  grown  up  in  their  ftead,  we  were  forced 
to  go  three  miles  into  the  country  before  a  fingle 
nut  could  be  procured.  The  hunters  alfo  fufFered 
confiderable  fatigue  j  for  they  were  frequently 
obliged  to  go  ten  or  twelve  miles  through  one 
continued  thicket,  and  the  cattle  were  fo  wild  that 
it  was  very  difficult  to  come  near  them  j  fo  that 
I  was  obliged  to  relieve  one  party  by  another; 
and  it  being  reported  that  cattle  were  more  plenty 
at  the  North  end  of  the  ifland,  but  that  the  hunters 
being  quite  cxhaufted  with  fatigue,  when  they  got 
thither,  were  not  able  to  kill  them,  much  lefs  to 
bring  them  down,  I  fent  Mr.  Gore,  with  fourteeri 
men,  to  cftablilh  themfelves  in  that  part  of  the 
iOand,  and  ordered  that  a  boat  fhould  go  every 
morning,  at  day-break,  for  what  they  fhould 
killV 

In  addition  to  the  refrefhments  before-men- 
tioned, Captain  Wallis  obtained  an  ample  ftock 
of  limçs,  which  he  appropriated  to  the  wants  of 
his  people. 

Captain  Portlock,  who,  on  the  4th  of  Oftober, 
1787,  crofled  the  Archipelago  of  the  Mar    An  ne 

*  Ha^ke/woorth' 5  Comfilaùon*  Vol,  I,  Walîh's  Voyage^ 
Chapter  XI.  page  279. 

Iflands 


74 


marchand's  voyage.      [Nov,,  lygt. 


Iflands  between  Tinian  and  Say  pan,  fays  that,  in 
the  plains  of  the  former,  he  obferved  a  number 
of  white  animals  grazing,  which  he  fuppofed  to 
be  the  white  cattle  that,  in  Lord  Anson's  Voy- 
age, are  faid  to  be  fo  common  there  ;  but  he 
reconnoitred  the  ifland  only  at  a  diftance,  and  could 
not  judge  of  its  prefent  state*. 

Captain  Gilbert,  commanding  the  fhip  Char- 
î,OTTE,  pafTed  the  beginning  of  the  month  of 
Auguft  1788,  at  the  anchorage  of  Tinïan  i  he 
would  have  been  well  pleafed  to  find  there  the 
terrcllrial  paradife  reprefentcd  in  Anson's  voyage  ; 
but  he  found  only  the  wild  country  of  which 
Byron  has  drawn  us  fo  hideous  a  pi6lure  :  his 
account  is  as  as  follows  :  From  the  obfervations 
I  was  able  to  make,  during  my  fhort  ftay  at  this 
iQand,  the  defcription  given  by  Captain  Wall  is 
fecms  to  corrcfpond  the  neareft  with  the  prefent 
flate  of  it.  The  ground  was  overgrown  wiih 
underwood,  and  the  cattle  did  not  appear  to  be 
by  far  fo  plenty  as  defcribed  in  Anson's  voyage. 
The  well,  at  which  Lord  Anson  watered,  was  dry  ; 
and  as  for  the  numerous  fprings  there  fpoken  of, 
few  of  them  fell  in  my  way.  The  neareft  water 
to  the  landing-place  lay  too  far  off  for  me  to 
receive  any  benefit  from  it,  in  the  prefent  debilita- 
ted ftate  of  the  Ihip's  company,  Anrong  the  tree$ 
I  obferved  gteat  numbers  of  the  cotton-tree,  in 


♦  Portkck's  Foyagây  p.  3 1 7. 

4  full 


Nov.  1791.]      marchand's  voyage.  7^ 

full  bloom  ;  and  fell  in  with  a  village^  the  huts  of 
which  appeared  to  have  been  for  fomc  time  de- 
ferted.  However,  the  little  tirne  I  was  there,  I 
got  great  abundance  of  cocoa-nuts,  cabbages, 
bread-fruit,  wild  hogs,  fowls,  &c.  &c.  I  faw  large 
herds  of  white  cattle,  but  was  not  able  to  manag,ç 
any  of  them,  except  a  few  of  their  calves*." 

Like  Commodore  Anson,  Captain  Gilbert 
experienced  the  danger  of  the  roadflead  :  the 
Charlotte,  and  the  Scarborough  which  an- 
chored there  near  her,  were  forced,  in  a  gale  of 
wind,  to  cut  their  cables,  and  put  to  feaf. 

I  obferve 

*  Voyage  from  Ne'w  South  Wales  io  Canton,  in  the  year 
1788.    By  Thomas  Gilbert.  London,  1789.  pages  66  and  67. 

+  In  recapitulating  what  is  reported  of  the  road  and  an- 
chorage in  the  diiFerent  journals,  to  which  we  refer  the  reader 
for  farther  particulars,  it  appears  : 

That,  on  the  2 2d  of  September,  1742,  the  Centurion  parted 
two  cables  and  was  driven  to  fea,  dragging  with  her  a  third 
anchor,  which  (he  had  let  go  on  the  edge  of  the  bank  ;  and 
that  Ihe  could  not  regain  the  road  till  the  i  ith  of  Odober. 

That,  on  the  14th  of  Oclober,  being  but  the  third  day 
after  her  arrival,  a  fudden  gale  of  wind,  brought  home  her 
anchor,  forced  her  off  the  bank,  and  drove  her  to  fea  a  fécond 
time;  and  (he  was  five  days  before  (he  could  return  to  her 
anchorage. 

That,  in  the  beginning  of  Auguft,  1768,  the  wefterly  fwell 
forced  Byron  to  get  under  way  ;  and  that  he  could  not  take  up 
the  anchorage  again  for  a  week. 

That,  on  the  8ih  of  Auguft,  1788,  the  Charlotte  and  the 
Scarborough  were  forced  to  cut  their  cables,  and  put  to  fea. 

But  An/on  affirms  that,  during  eight  months  of  the  year,  that 
is,  from  the  middle  of  Oélober  to  the  middle  of  June,  there  is 

a  conftan 


marchand's  voyage.      [Nov.  1791. 


I  obferve  that,  among  the  large  trees  which 
Gilbert  saw  at-TiNiANy  he  dillinguiflied  a  great 
number  of  cotton-trees,  and  that  they  were  in 
full  bl'offom  :  we  have  feen  that  in  1765,  Byron 
had  already  found  there  the  cotton-tree,  together 
with  the  indigo-tree.  It  cannot  be  doubted  that 
this  ifland  would  have  been  very  fertile,  and  that 
it  would  have  been  "very  eafy  to  naturalize  there 
the  ufeful  produ6lions  of  both  In  pies,  if  the  right 
of  conqueft  had  fubjeded  it  to  other  mailers 
thah' the  Spaniards  :  but  the  latter,  incapable  of 
cultivating,  with  their  own  hands,  every  part 
of  tii-e  earth  of  which  they  have  declared  them- 
felves  the  proprietors,  have  too  frequently,  by 
a  policy  no  lefs  inhuman  than  contrary  to  their 
true  interefts,.  dçflroyed  or  difperfed,  the  real  pro- 
^prktors,  the  original  cultivators,  who;  alone  -can 
^compenfate  for  the  infufiiciency  of  the  con-. 
<juerors. 

Captain  Sever,  commanding,  the  Ship  .Lady 
Penrhyn,  touched  at  Tinian,  in  the  month  of 
September    1788.    He  confirms  all  that  Com- 
tTiodorc  Byron  and  Captain  Walus  have  reported 
of  the  prefent  fituation  of  this  iOand  ;  but  although 

— ^  ^      .  1'  ",      '  : — ~~  

a  confiant  feafon  of  fettled  weather,  and  that,  . "jsrbvide^  . the  cables 
be  but  well  arnjed,  or  buoyed  up,  there  is  little  danger  of  their 
being  rubbed  ;  in  fhc^rt,  during  thefe  eight  months,'  the  road  on 
the  fouth-weft  end  of  the  ifland  of  Ti?:la}i  is,  he  adds,  as  fecure 
a  road  as  could  be  wiflied  for. 


he 


Nov.  1791-3         MARCHAND'S  VOYAGE,  77,- 

hc  landed  there  at  the  fame  time  of  the  year  as 
the  latter,  he  found  the  feafon  very  backward  ; 
moft  of  the  fruits  were  not  arrived  at  their  point 
of  maturity  :  however,  he  procured  two  oxen,  a 
wild  hog,  and,  a  dozen  of  fowls 

When  we  have  read  the  two  defciipcions  of 
TiNiAN,  which  both,  no  doubt,  equally  merit  our 
confidence,  from  the  well-founded  opinion  of  the 
veracity  of  the  voyagers  by  whom  they  were 
written,  we  cannot  avoid  being  llruck  with  afto-- 
jnifhrnent,  on  examining  the  ravages  which  time^ 
whofe  hand  is  not  always  flow,  has  been  able  to 
ifommit  in  an  interval  that  does  not  amount  to 
the  fourth  of  a  century.  Behold  Tin i an  in  1742;, 
divided  between  fmiling  plains  and  iloping  hills^ 
crowned  with  woods  whole  tall  trees  growing  m 
rows,  at  regular  diflances,  and  cleared  of  barren 
and  obftru6ling  fhrubs,  leave  to  the  air  a  free  cir<- 
culation,  which  permits  it  to  purify  itfelf  in  its 
courfe  ;  behold  it  decked  out  v/ith  all  the  gifts 
of  the  creation^  which  the  colouring  of  the  painter 
has,  if  you  pleafc,  embelliihed,  but  th^  features 
of  which  he  has  given  -,  and  return  to  Tînian 
in  1765  :  you  will  fee  withered  rufhes,  melancholy 
heaths,  and  prickly  brambles,  occupy  in  its  plains;, 
now  become  waftes,  the  places  which  were  covered 

by  verdant  trefoil,  falutary  herbs,  lîfeful  plant^:, 

I  ■ 

*  See  Tlye  Voyage  of  Go'vernor  PhiTip  fa-  Bofmj  Bm^,  ^.c>. 
Londan^  1789,  410.  page  24.5. 


iîÀRCHAND's  VOYAGÉ.         [Nov.  Ifgt» 


and  odoriferous  flowers  :  feek  on  thofe  lawns  the 
numerous  herds  which  conftituted  their  ornament 
and  richnefs,  and  on  which  à  fecundified  land 
lavifhed  food  ever- reviving  :  at  this  day,  a  hideous, 
briftling,  impaffable  bur  repels  them,  and  denies 
them  fubfiftence  :  attempt  to  penetrate  into  thefe 
woods  ^  thick  bri^irs^  ftubborn  and  flrong  grafs 
prohibit  you  from  entering  them;  parafitical 
■lianes*,  intertwined  and  intermingled,  ftretch  their 
tendrils  from  one  tree  to  another,  and  intercept 
all  communication  3  a  foil,  on  which  the  down 
of  the  enamelled  mofs  extended  into  the  very 
heart  of  the  clumps,  is  now  only  the  impure  afylum 
of  centipedes,  fcorpions,  and  all  the  venomous 
infe6ls  which  live  and  generate  their  poifon  in 
the  rubbifti  of  vegetation:  there  no  longer  remains 

*  L'tanesi  winding  like  ivy,  run  up  the  large  trees  which 
they  meet  with;  and,  there  arc  fome  whith,  _  after  having 
reached  the  tallell  branches,  throw  out  tendrils  which  fall  again 
prependicularly,  bury  themfelves  in  the  ground,  there  fake  frefii 
root,  and  rife  again,  afcending  and  defcending  alternately. 
Other  filaments  borne  obliquely  by  the  wind^  or  by  fome 
accident,  frequently  fallen  on  the  neighbouring  trees,  and  form 
either  an  impenetrable  foreft,  or  a  confufion  of  cords  hanging 
in  every  direétion,  which  prefent  to  the  eye  the  fame  afpeéi 
as  the  running  rigging  of  a  Ihip.  There  are  lia?ies  as  thick 
as  the  arm  ;  fome,  by  dint  of  clafping  the  tree  which  they 
embrace,  finifh  by  choking  it.  Sometimes  it  happens  that  the 
tree  dries  while  (landing,  rots,  and  entirely  decays,  and  that . 
there  remain  only  the  fpirals  of  the  llane,  which  form 
fort  of  twifted  column,  infulated  and  perforated,  which  art 
would  find  much  difficulty  in  imitating,"  /^vSee  Bomare's  D  'td* 
d<  Hiji^  ^at,  at  the  word  Llane.J 

of 


Nov.  1791  •]      Marchand's  voyage. 


of  the  former  Titian  any  of  the  charms  which 
occafioned  to  be  overlooked  the  importunity  of 
its  gnats/  the  noxious  quality  of  its  fifhcs,  and  the 
dangers  of  its  roadftead  :  the  fourth  of  a  century 
has  been  fufEcient  for  efFefting  all  thefe  changes  ! 

This  contraft  of  two  pictures  fo  different  from 
each  other,  that,  in  comparing  them,  we  have 
fome  difficulty  in  perfuading  ourfelves  that  the 
voyagers  meant  to  delineate  the  fame  ifland  \  this 
contrail,  I  fay,  leads  us  back  to  the  obfervation, 
depofited  in  his  immortal  work  by  the  fublime 
philofopher,  whofe  bold  genius,  traverfing  the 
obfcurity  of  time,  and  hovering  over  fpace  in  order 
to  aid  creation,  would  have  divined  Nature,  had 
Nature  chofen  to  be  divined,  and  who  has  at  leaft 
marked  out  to  us  the  track,  which  fhc  might 
have  followed,  if  it  be  not,  in  faft,  the  track  which 
flie  has  followed. 

"  Man,'*  fays  BqPfon,  ^^mafter  of  the  domain 
of  the  earth,   has  changed  and  renewed  its 
"  whole  furface,  and  at  all  times  has  ihared  the 
empire  with  Nature.    However,  he  reigns  only 
"  by  right  of  conqued  ;  he  enjoys  rather  than 
pofTefTes;    he  preferves  only  by  unremitting 
"  care  ;  if  that  ceafc,every  thing  languifhes,  every 
"  thing  changes,  every  thing  returns  under  the 
"  hand  of  Nature  ;  flic  refumes  her  rights,  effaces 
"  the  works  of  Man,  and  leaves  him  nothing  but 
the  regret  of  having  loft,   through  his  own 

"  negU- 


•  maHchand's  Voyagé.      [Nov.  1791, 

"  negligence^  what  his  anceftors  had  conquered  by 

"  their  labours=^/' 

This  digre/Tion  has  made  us  lofe  fight  of  the 

Solide  ;  it  is  time  to  rejoin  her,  that  we  may  fol- 
low her  in  her  route  to  Macao. 

After  having  crofled  the  archipelago  of  the 
Marv-Anne  Iflands,  Captain  Marchand  fteered 
between  weft-north-wefl  and  weft  by  north,  in 
order  to  make  the  fouth  point  of  the  Ifland  of 
Formosa. 

The  obfervations  for  the  longitude  made  on 
the  1 6th  of  November  in  the  morning,  placed  the 
£hip,  at  noon  on  that  day,  in  122''  6'  eaft  from 
Paris  -,  and  her  obfervecl  latkude  was  21^  34'  north. 
This  pofition  afforded  taptain  Marchand  the 
hope, that,  on  the  following  day,  he  would  get 
fight  of  the  land.    It  appeared,  in  fa<5l,  the  next 
morning  at  half  paft  feven  o'clock,  and  he  diftin- 
guifhed  the  Iflands  of  Botel  Tab  ago  XiMAf, 
fituated  at  the  di^^^D^e  of  about  five  leagues  from 
the  fouth  point  of  Formosa,  and  on  the  lame 
parallel  :  the  large  ifland  is  a  high  land  which  may 
be  perceived,  in  clear  weather,  eighteen  or  twenty 
leagues.    At  half  paft  nine  o'clock,  the  largeft  of 
thefe  iflands  bore  from  weft  half  north  to  weft  by 
north,  and  the  fmall  ifland,  weft  half  fouth,  dif- 
tant  about  twelve  leagues. 

*  Hi/f,  Nat,  V^^  Vue  de  la  Nature, 

•f  According   to  Alexa7ider  Dalrymple  ;   and  according 
others,  Bo^tel  or  Battel,  Tabaco  Xima,  or  Tàba^o  Xima;  and 
Tabaco-Jtm'a,  according  to  B^Anville* 

1  At 


Nov.  MARCHANd's  VOYAGE.  8l 

At  half  pad:  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  at 
the  moment  when  the  eaftern  extremes  of  both 
the  BoTEL  Iflands  bore,  in  one  with  each  other, 
north  by  weft,  was  perceived  to  the  weft  by  north 
the  fouth  point  of  the  Ifland  of  Formosa.  This 
part  of  the  ifland  prefents  a  land  of  a  remarkable 
height,  which  is  to  be  perceived  at  the  diftance 
of  twenty  or  even  twenty-two  leagues. 

On  the  1 8th,  at  noon,  the  Solide  had  left  this 
point  to  the  eaft-north-eaft  half  north,  at  the 
diftance  of  about  four  leagues  and  a  half,  and  was 
ftanding  on  for  Macao. 

Captain  Chanal,  according  to  the  obfervations 
of  Captain  Marchand,  and  his  own,  combined 
with  various  bearings  taken  of  the  land,  has  endea- 
voured to  fix  the  geographical  pofitions,  both  ab- 
folute  and  relative,  of  the  Botel  Iflands,  of  the 
fouth  point  of  Formosa,  and  of  Vele-Rete,  a 
very  dangerous  flioal,  lying  in  the  track  of  fhips 
coming  from  the  Great  Ocean  to  the  northward 
of  the  Bash  EE  Iflands*    As  the  pofitions  given  by 
Captain  Chanal  do  not  all  agree   with  thofe 
which  have  been  employed  by  Alexander  Dal- 
RYMPLE,  in  his  Chart  of  the  China  Sea  y  publiflied 
in  1771;  by  La  Pe'rouse,  in  the  journal  of  his 
voyage  and  in  his  chart    by  George  Robertson, 
in  l^is  large  Chart  of  the  China  Sea^  which  appeared 
in  1791,  and  in  his  Table  of  Pcfttions^  which  makes 
part  of  the  Memoir  that  accompanies  the  chart  and 
ferves  as  a  foundation  for  it  j  I  have  thought  it 
VQL.  II*  G  incum- 


§2 


marchand's  voyage.       [Nov.  1791. 


incumbent  on  me  to  report  them  as  given  by  each, 
to  the  end  that  navigators  who  may  have  an  oppor- 
tunity of  making  obfcrvations  in  fight  of  the  fame 
points,  may  the  more  eafily  verify  the  different 
pofitions,  and  decide  which  merit  the  preference. 

According  to  the  obfervations  and  the  bearings 
taken  on  board  of  the  Solide  in  fight  of  the  land  : 

The  great  Ifland  of  Botel  Tabago-Xima,  at 
its  fouth-eaft  point,  is  fituated  in  22"^  3'  north  lati- 
tude, and  119°  34  eaft  longitude*.  This  ifland 
is  fufficiently  elevated  to  be  perceived,  in  clear 
weather,  at  the  diftance  of  fifteen  leagues  :  it  may 
be  four  or  five  leagues  in  circumference.  The 
fires  which  were  feen  blazing  during  the  night  left 
no  doubt  of  its  being  inhabited,  at  leaft  in  a  tem- 
porary manner,  by  fifliermen,  if,  hovv/ever,  it  have 
not  inhabitants  who  make  it  their  confiant  refi- 
dence.  * 

*  According  to  Dalrymples  Chart       Lat.  Long. 

8°  15  from  M<^r^<3  which  is  fitu-     »      '   "         o     '  " 

ated  (Note  LX)  in  1 1 1°  15'.  .  . .  22  6  30  ..  1 19  30  00 
According  t)  the  obfervations  of  La 

Pe'ron/e   21  57  OO  ..  1 19  32  03 

According  to  Chanal,  the  middle  of 

the  ifland,   22°  4' and  1 19*  3/ j 

and  in  taking  away  i  minute  from 

the  latitude,  and  adding  1  min.  to 

the  longitude,  in  order  to  reduce 

them  to  the  fouth-cafl:  point  of  the 

ifland   22    3  00  4,.  1 19  34  oO 

According  to  G.  R6ber//o?i,  in  his 
Table  of  Pofitions   22    6  od  ,.  119  21  45 

•  But, 


Nov*  1791-]       marchand's  voyage. 


83 


Bur,  in  order  not  to  fuffer  the  opinion  of  fea- 
men  to  waver/  I  think  I  may  venture  to  take  the 
liberty  of  here  anticipating  on  the  publication  of 
La  Petrous e's  voyage,  for  the  purpofe  of  adding 
that  the  ifland  is  inhabited,  that  it  even  appears 
well  peopled,  fince  La  Pë'rouse,  on  approaching 
very  near  to  it,  diflinguifiied  three  villages  within 
the  fpace  of  a  league. 

The  fmall  ifland  of  the  fame  name  lies  to  the 
fouth  by  eaft  of  the  great  one^i  its  latitude  is 
21"^  57',  and  its  longitude  119"^  3^'  It  is  fome- 
v/hat  lefs  elevated  than  the  great  ifland,  but  how- 
ever fufficiently  fo  to  be  feen  ten  or  twelve 
leagues. 

The  paflage  between  thefe  two  iflands  nnay  be 
four  or  five  miles  in  width  :  the  channel  and  both 
fliores  appeared  equally  free  from  rocks  or  flioals.j 

The  fouth-weft  point  of  the  Ifland  of  Formosa 
may  be  placed  in  latitude  21°  54',  according  to 

*  On  the  parallel  of  the  middle  of  the  great  ifland,  according 
to  Dalrymple's  chart,  and  on  the  parallel  of  its  fouth-eaft  point, 
according  to  that  of  La  Ftroufe, 

Lat.  Long. 
+  According  to  Dalrymple's  Chart,     o     /    //         o     /  // 

in  8®  22' eaft  from  Af«r^<?   22    7  oo  .  .  119  27  00 

According  to  La  Peroufe,  from  his 

difference  of  meridian  in  regard  to 

the  great  ifland,   taken  on  his 

chart,  5  min.  more  to  the  eaft- 

ward   21  57  00  .  .  iig  57  oa 

According  to  Chanal  (as  above)  , .     21  57  00       1 19  36  00 

c  2  '  that 


84 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  [NoV. 


that  of  the  fhip  obferved  on  the  i8th  at  noon,  in 
21^  48^  and  according  to  the  bearing,  which  placed 
this  point  6  minutes  more  to  the  northward  than 
the  fliip  :  its  longitude  is  about  ii8°  40"*. 

The  Vele-Rete  fhoal  lies  to  the  fouth  4  or  5"^ 
weft  of  the  fouth  point  of  Formosa,  towards  the 
latitude  of  21°  45',  and  longitude  of  118*^  39'  f. 
Thefe  rocks  are  even  with  the  water^s  edge,  and 
cannot  be  perceived  at  more  than  two  leagues' 
diftance.  A  lliip  muft  borrow  on  the  point  of  the 
I  (land  of  Formosa,"  which  is  fafe,  clofer  than  on 


LaK  Long. 

*  According  to  Dalrymple's  chart     o     /    //         o      »  '/ 

7*^  19' to  the  eaft  ward  of  Macao    22    2  30  ..  I18  34 
According  to  that  of  La  Ptroii/et  5^ 

min.  more  to  the  northward,  and 

52  min.  lefs  to  the  eaft  ward  than 

the  fouth-eaft  point  of  the  Great 

Bote!   22    2  00       118  40  00 

According  to  Chatial  (as  above)..  21  54  00  . .  ri8  40  00 
Robert/on' s  Memoir  (in  his  Table  of 

Pofitions)    22    6  00  ..  118  49  45 

+  According  to  Dahympie's  chart 

7°  21' 20"  to  the  eaft  of  Macao.,  21  48  00  1 18  36  3® 
According  to  that  of  La  Pc'roufey  3 

min.  lefs  to  the  northward,  and  40 

min,  lefs  to  the  eaftward  than  the 

fouth-eaft  point  of  the  Gr^-^z/J^o/^/  21  49  00  ..  118  52  00 
According  to  Chanal  (as  above)  2 1  45  00  . .  1 18  39  00 
According  to  Robert/on   21  45  00  , .  1 1 8  47  45 


the 


Nov.  1791.]         MARCHANDAS  VOVAGE. 


85 


the  flioal,  to  which  it  is  prudent  to  give  a  good 
birth  *. 

On  the  i8th  of  November,  in  fight  of  the 
fouth-weft  point  of  the  Ifland  of  Formosa,  I  ftop 
the  calculation  of  the  Solide*s  run  from  the  Sand- 
wich Iflands  to  Macao. 

In  deducing  the  longitude  of  this  point  from 
that  of  the  fouth-eaft  point  of  the  Great  Botel 
Tabago-Xima,  which  is  determined  by  the  ob- 
férvations  of  La  Pe'rouse,  we  find  that  the  former 
muft  be  118°  40'  j  and  according  to  the  bearing 
taken  at  noon  of  the  i8th,  the  lliip  was,  with  re- 
fpe6l  to  the  fouth-wefl  point  of  Formosa,  i2-| 
minutes  lefs  to  the  eaftward  than  the  point:  her 
longitude  mufl:  therefore  have  been  118"^  27'  40'^ 

*  G.  Rohertfon  in  his  Memoir  of  a  Chart  of  the  China  Sea^ 
P^ge  33,  gives  an  extrail  fronj  the  Journal  of  the  Royal  Captahii 
which  prefents  a  few  details  refpecting  the  Vele-Rete  Shoal. 

"  On  the  23d  of  Oftober  1762,  at  9  A.  M.  faw  the  Rock 
"  Vèle-Rete  bearing  weft  by  north  ;  at  nôon,  it  bore  north  z\ 
leagues  :  it  feems  environed  with  rocks,  extending  a  mile  or 
"  tv/o  round  it,  on  which  the  fea  breaks  very  high  :  I  judge  its 
diftance  from  the  fouth  part  of  Formoja  to  be  5  or  6  leagues  ; 
and,  appearing  very  fmall,  it  \%  not  to  be  feen  above  3  or  4 
leagues  in  clear  weather.    When  this  rock  bore  north-well  by 
<^  north,  we  perceived  the  water  difcoloured  ;  but  in  half  an 
hour  it  changed  its  hue  to  a  fea-colour. 

"  Latitude  obferved    21°  38'  north. 
"  Ditto  of  the  rock    21°  45' north.'* 
Since  Vele-Rete  is  in  latitude  21°  45',  nearly  fouth  of  thje 
fouth  point  of  Fermofai  and  fmce  this  point  lies  in  about  22°, 
the  v/idth  of  the  pafTage  between  the  ifland  and  the  flioal  muft 
^^e  15  miles  or  5  leagues, 

G  3  But 


86 


MARCHAND  s  VOYAGE.         [NoV.  l'/gîn 


But  on  the  i6th  at  noon,  the  longitude  of  the 
Solide  deduced  from  the  obfervations  was  122*^6^5. 
and,  from  the  1 6th  to  the  i8th,  the  progrefs  by 
account  towards  the  weft  had  been  3°  43'  :  thus 
her  longitude  on  the  i8th  was  ii8'^32'.  It  is 
feen  that  it  differs  from  the  true  only  by  4  minutes^ 
or  about  a  league  and  a  quarter  *  :  and  the  dif- 
ference mii-:^ht  have  been  more  confiderable,  with- 
out  our  navigators  being  juftified  in  imputing  it 
to  the  obfervations  of^the  i6thj  fince  they  were 
obliged  to  employ  the  dead  reckoning  for  the 
forty-eight  hours  elapfed  between  the  i6th  and 
the  J  8th. 

If,  at  prefent,  AVe  wifh  to  find  the  error  of  the 
reckoning  on  the  whole  of  the  run,  we  have  only 
to  compare  the  difference  of  longitude  indicated 
by  the  dead  reckoning  between  the  point  of  de- 
parture on  the  7th  of  October  and  the  point  ar- 
rived at  on  the  j8th  of  November,  with  the  true 
difference  deduced  from  the  obfervations  which 
have  fixed  the  pofition  of  thefe  two  extreme 
points. 

The  true  difference  of  longitude  is  83°  3'  f  5  the 
*  See  Note  LVIII. 

+  Longitude  of  the  point  of  departure  in  fight  of  0-Whjhee, 
on  the  7th  of  Oftober,  158°  29'  nveji — Longitude  of  the  point 
arrived  at  in  fight  of  the  fouth-weft  point  of  the  Ifland  of 
Formo/ay  on  the  i8th  of  November  (as  above)  1 18°  28' ^«7/?. 
Difference  of  longitude  83°  3',  (See  the  Journal  of  the  Route 
at  the  7th  of  October  and  at  the  i8th  of  November,  and  Nôte 
LVIIL) 

difference 


Nov.  1791-]      marchand's  voyage. 


87 


difference  given  by  the  dead  reckoning  is  76"^  44' 
The  latter  is  therefore  fmaller  than  the  former  by 
6°  19',  which,  on  th^  parallel  of  the  point  arrived 
at,  anfwer  to  a  little  more  than  one  hundred  and 
feventeen  leagues. 

If  we  divide  this  fum  of  the  partial  errors  of 
the  reckoning,  by  the  number  of  days  of  the  run, 
that  is  to  fay,  by  41$,  we  fhall  have  for  the  mean 
error  in  twenty-four  hours,  8t^  miles:  and  the 
quantity  of  this  error  confirms  a  remark  which  we 
have  reafon  to  make  in  reading  the  journals  of 
navigators j  this  is,  that  in  crofTing  the  Great 
Ocean  between  the  tropics,  the  general  current 
of  the  waters,  from  eaft  to  weft,  carries  fhips  to 
the  weftward  by  an  imperceptible  movement  which 
may  be  eftimated  at  eight  or  nine  miles,  or  about 
three  leagues  a  day.  But  this  movement,  which 
efcapes  the  uncertain  methods  of  the  pilot,  cannot 

l|   elcape  the  obfervations  of  the  aftronomer. 

m       On  lofmg  fight  of  the  Ifland  of  Formosa,  jthe 
Solids  directed  her  courfe  for  Macao. 

On  the  20th,  land  was  difcovered  at  half  pad 
fix  o'clock  in  Û\g  mornings  it  bore  north-weft  ; 
but  the  mift  did  not  yet  allow  of  its  being  diftin- 
guifhed:  Captain  Marchand  ftood  on  to  ap- 

IH    proach  it.    The  fog  not  having  cleared  up,  he 

*  Longitude  of  the  point  of  departure  158°  29'  njueji — Longi= 
Hi  tude  of  the  point  arrived  at,  by  account,  124°  47'  eaj}.  Dif- 
K  ference  of  longitade,  by  account,  76°  44'.  (See  the  Journal  of 
IP'     the  Rautey  and  Note  LVIII.) 


was 


88 


Marchand's  voyage.        [Nov*  1791, 


was  compelled  to  pafs  the  night  in  making  (hort 
boards. 

The  next  morning,  at  half  pad  feven  o'clock, 
he  difcerned  Pedr A  Branca  (the  White  Rock) 
to  the  weft  by  fouth  3°  fouth  :  he  fteered  fo  a& 
to  pafs  to  the  foudiward  of  it  ;  and  at  half  pad 
nine,  it  bore  diredlly  north,  diftant  two  miles, 
Pedra  Branca  is  a  fmall  white  rock,  high,  and 
iteepy  fituated  eighteen  leagues  to  the  eaft-north- 
eaft  of  the  Grand  Lema,  the  moft  eafte'rn  and 
the  moft  confiderable  of  the  group  which  bears 
that  name  and  lies  to  the  eaftward  of  the  nume- 
rous iflands  that  form  the  roads  of  Macao,  and 
the  mouth  of  the  river  of  Canton.  Pedra 
Branca  may  be  perceived  at  four  or  five  leagues' 
diftance. 

The  fea  was  covered  with  fifhing- boats.  Cap- 
tain Marchand  fired  a  gun  as  a  fignal  for  a  pilot 
acquainted  with  the  coaft  ;  and  it  was  not  Jong 
before  an  officious  Chinefe,  but  we  cannot  fay  a 

*  According  to  G.  Rohertfon  (page  1 2  of  his  Memoir  of  a 
Chart  of  the  China  Sea)  the  latitude  of  Pedra  Branca,  from  a 
good  obfervation,  is  22°  20'  00''^  north;  and  its  longitude  from 
Green^Mu-h  115°  8'  deduced  from  Macao,  or  115°  14' oo",  if  we 
place  Macao,  as  I  have  done  (Note  LX)  in  173°  35*  15". 
Rohertfon  adds  that  its  longitude  was  confirmed  by  nine  fets  of 
aftronomical  obfervations  (objcéls  eaft  and  weft  of  the  moon,) 
made  by  Captain  W,  Frafer;  whofe  mean  of  the  whole  places  it  in 
115°  4' eaft.  If  we  choofe  to  take  a  mean  between  thefe  two 
determinations,  we  fhall  have  115'^  9'  oo''^  eaft  from  Greenwich, 
or  1 1 2*^  48'  45"  eaft  from  Parts  :  Rohertfmi  has  adopted  n  5°  8  '00" 
from  the  meridian  of  Greenwich, 

difin- 


Nov.  1791.]         MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  89 

difinterefted  one,  made  his  appearance.  The 
weather  being  rather  bad,  he  was  not  afraid  of 
rating  his  fervices  at  too  high  a  price  :  he  de- 
manded 70  dollars,  and  required  that  the  fum 
fliould  be  paid  him  beforehand  :  as  he  neither  un- 
derftood  French,  Englifh,  nor  Portuguefe,  and  as 
Captain  Marchand  neither  had  the  means  nor 
the  time  to  difpute  about  the  fum,  he  paid  it,  and 
put  the  Solide  under  his  direcVion,  with  the  con- 
fidence that  the  blind  man  has  in  his  guide. 

The  wind  blew  from  north-north-eafi:  to  north  ; 
and,  agreeably  to  the  indication  of  the  pilot,  the 
ihip  was  brought  clofe  to  the  wind  in  order  to 
keep  the  coaft  aboard. 

At  half  paft  one  o^clock  in  the  afternoon,  Pedra 
Branca  bore  eaft-north-eaft  half  north,  diftant 
about  four  leagues;  and,  a  little  time  after,  was 
out  of  fight.  Captain  Marchand  regulated  his 
courfe  by  the  Chart  of  part  of  the  coafi  of  Chim, 
îdc,  pubiifhed  by  Alexander  Dalrymple,  a 
copy  of  which  is  to  be  found  in  D'Apres'  Neptune 
Oriental^  2nd  edition.  No.  53. 

The  weather  was  overcaft  and  mifty:  at  half 
paft  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  the  pilot  pro- 
pofed  to  come  to  for  the  night;  and  the  anchor 
was  let  go  in  eighteen  fathoms,  over  a  bottom  of 
fofc  mud;  little  Single  Ifland  bearing  north-eaft 
half  eaft,  and  Toneang  Ifland  north-eaft  by 
north,  at  the  diftance  of  two  or  three  leagues  from 
thefe  iflands;  the  Grand  Lema  fouth-weft. 

On 


marchanb's  voyage.       [Nov.  1791, 


On  the  22nd,  in  the  morning,  Captain  Mar- 
chand got  under  way  with  a  frefh  breeze  at 
north-north-eaft,  and  fleered  weft-fouth-weft,  in 
order  to  range  along  the  fouth  coaft  of  Poo- Toy, 
and  pafs  to  the  northward  of  the  Grand  Lema, 
The  ihip  had  run  eighteen  miles  to  the  weft  fouth- 
weft  half  fouth:  Ling-ting  Ifland  bore  weft  by 
fouth,  and  the  Ifland  of  Poo-Toy,  from  north- 
north-weft  to  north-north-eaft,  at  the  diftance  of 
half  a  mile,  when  he  hauled  his  wind  to  fteei*  for 
the  Peak  of  Lan-Tao,  and  pafs  to  windward  of 
Ling-Ting.  But  the  wind  came  round  to  the 
north-north- weft,  at  the  fame  time  blowing  ftrong: 
as  it  was  no  longer  pofiible  to  weather  the  north 
fide  of  this  laft- mentioned  ifland,  the  pilot  bore  up 
in  order  to  pafs  it  to  the  fouthward. 

Captain  Chanal  remarks,  that  to  the  north- 
ward of  Ling-Ting,  are  feen  two  flioals,  even 
with  the  water's  edge,  which  are  not  laid  down  on 
Dalrymple's  chart  :  the  diftance  from  the  moft 
northern  of  thefe  flioals  to  the  ifland  is  rather  more 
than  a  mile. 

At  half  paft  noon,  the  Solide  was  to  the  fouth- 
ward ofLiNG-TiNG  j  Captain  Marchand  hugged 
the  wind,  leaving  on  the  larboard  hand,  to  leeward, 
the  Sa-Moan  Iflands  and  thofe  of  Tsow,  and 
fteering  for  Chi-Chow  Ifland,  in  order  to  double 
it  to  the  fouthward  :  the  wind  blew  ftrong  from 
the  northward. 


Quite 


Nov.  1791.]      marchand's  voyage. 


9i 


Quite  clofe  to  the  Sa-Moan  and  Tsow  Iflands, 
are  feen  fome  fmall  iflots,  which  are  not  laid  down 
on  the  chart  -,  but  they  are  not  dangerous. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  wind  continued  to  fcant 
more  and  more  :  and,  although  the  Jfhip  carried  all 
the  fail  that  circumftances  would  allow,  no  hopes 
were  entertained  of  her  being  able  to  weather  fome 
fhoals,  fituated  to  the  northward  of  the  Chook- 
Chow  Iflands,  which  the  chart  has  not  indicated. 
Captain  Marchand  determined  to  anchor  under 
Chi-Chow  Ifland,  where  he  came  to,  at  a  quarter 
paft  three  o'clock,  in  thirteen  fathojns,  over  a 
muddy  bottom  ;  the  Peak  of  that  ifland  bearing 
north-north- eaft  half  eaft,  one  mile  from  its  fouth- 
weft  coaft  the  moft  eaftern  of  the  Chook-Chow 
Iflands  fouth-fouth-weft  half  fouth  ;  and  the  peak 
of  the  Ifland  Lan-Tao  north  by  eaft. 

Chi-Chow  conflfts  of  two  fmall  iflands  clofe  to 
-each  other;  although,  on  the  chart,  thefe  two 
iflands  are  reprefented  as  one  only. 

On  the  23d,  the  wind  blew  with  too  much  vio- 
lence, from  north  to  north-north -eaft,  for  the 
Solide  to  get  under  way:  this  day  was  fpent  at 
anchor,  and  the  fliip  was  thus  detained,  till  the 
morning  of  the  25th,  by  an  alternate  contrariety 
of  wind  or  tide. 

The  latitude  of  the  anchorage  was  obferved  on 
the  24th,  at  noon,  in  22°  3'  30'^  north:  which 
places  the  fouth  coaft  of  the  ifland  in  22°  4 

or 


marchand's  voyage.       [Nov,  1791. 


or  5'*.  It  was  high  water  at  eleven  o'clock  in 
the  mr  rning,  at  the  difl'ince  of  two  days  from  the 
new  moon  :  the  flood  fet  to  the  weft-north-weft  ^ 
and  the  ebb,  to  the  eaftward. 

On  the  25th,  at  fix  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the 
weather  at  length  permitted  Captain  Marchand 
to  get  under  way  :  the  wind  was  moderate,  and 
the  firft  of  the  flood  was  favourable  to  the  courfe  r 
he  made  a  Ihort  ftretch  to  the  eaftward  ;  and,  on 
putting  about  again,  the  fliip  looked  up  for  thç 
road  of  Macao. 

He  ranged  along  the  Ifland  of  Laf-Sam-Mee, 
which  he  doubled  to  the  fouthward  ;  thence,  he 
fleered  for  that  of  Chuc-Tuan,  which  he  pafled, 
leaving  it  on  the  ftarboard  hand  at  a  very  fmaii 
diftance  :  at  the  moment  when  it  bore  north, 
Laf-Sam-Mee  bore  eaft-norch-eaft,  and  Potoe 
(Tailow-  Chow  on  the  Englifh  chart)  weft-fouth- 
weft.  With  the  wind  which  had  veered  to  the 
northward,  blowing  frefh,  he  paflied  between  the 
fmall  Jflands  Tai-Lock  and  Sy-Lock  :  the  channel 
that  they  leave  between  them  is  narrow,  and  its 
middle  is  obftru6ted  by  a  fmall  rock,  which  is 
above  water  -,  but  the  pilot,  by  figns,  gave  out 

^  I  obferve  that,  on  D'Après'  chart,  N°  53,  and  on  that  of 
Dalr^mpicy^oî  which  it  is  a  copy,  the  latitude  of  the  fouth  coaft 
of  Chi-Chon.v  Ifland  is  22°  and  about  thirteen  7nmutesy  that  is, 
8  or  9  minutes  more  northerly  than  that  given  by  the  obferva- 
tion  on  board  the  Solide  ;  but  on  thcfe  fame  charts,  Macao  is 
placed  in  22°  18',  that  is,  5I  minutes  too  much  to  the  north- 
ward. ^ 

naviga- 


Nov.  1791  •]         MARCHAND's  VOYAGE. 


93 


navigators  to  underftand  that  there  exlfts  no  hidden 
danger,  and  that  a  fhip  may,  with  fafety,  make  free 
with  both  iflands  and  the  rock  in  the  middle.  The 
Solide,  in  fa6t,  paffed  very  clofe  to  Sy-Lock  s  to 
the  eaftward  of  this  ifland,  is  feen  a  fmail  rocky 
iflot,  near  which  were  found  five  fathoms  water  ; 
and  this  is  the  fmalleft  depth  that  was  met  with 
between  the  iflands  :  near  Sy-Lock,  the  foundings 
were  eight  fathoms. 

After  Captain  Marchand  had  paffed  the  iflands, 
he  continued  to  hug  the  wind  in  order  to  fetch  the 
anchorage  of  Macao,  for  which  he  was  fleering; 
he  was  obliged  to  make  a  board  to  the  eaftward  s 
and,  at  half  paft  eleven  o'clock,  he  dropped  anchor 
in  five  fathoms  and  a  half  water,  over  a  bottom  of 
foft  mud  the  town  of  Macao  bearing  weft-north- 
weft  half  weft,  diftant  two  leagues  s  the  eaft  point 
of  the  fouth  peak  of  Montanha  (Mountain)  Ifland 
fouth-weft  by  fouth  ;  Ling-Ting  Ifland  north- 
north-eaft  half  eaft  ;  and  the  peak  of  Lan-Tao 
eaft  north- eaft  half  north.  In  this  pofition,  the 
latitude  which  was  obferved  on  this  fame  day  at 
noon,  was  22°  1 1  north. 

The  anchors  came  home  in  this  firft  birth,  with 
a  frefli  wind  from  north  to  north-north-eaft.  Two 
days  after.  Captain  Marchand  took  another  an- 
chorage more  to  the  northward,  in  fix  fathoms, 
with  the  fame  bottom  as  that  of  the  former.  The 
town  of  Macao  then  bore  west  8*^  fouth,  at  the 
diftance  of  two  leagues. 

As 


94 


marchand's  voyage.       [Nov.  1791. 


As  the  Solide  had  failed  round  the  world  iri 
taking  her  route  by  the  weft,  fhe  had  loft  a  day 
when  £he  arrived  at  Macao,  and  Captain  Mar- 
chand was  obliged  to  change  the  computation  of 
time  ;  the  day  after  his  arrival,  in  lieu  of  reckon- 
ing Saturday  the  26th  of  November,  as  he  ought 
to  have  done  in  following  the  calculation  of  the 
fliip  from  the  period  of  her  departure  from  Mar- 
seilles, he  fubftradled  that  day  from  the  calendar, 
and  reckoned  Sunday  the  27th. 

The  news  that  Captain  Marchand  learnt  at 
Macao  difconcerted  all  the  fpeculations  which  the 
owners  of  the  Solide  had  in  view  in  the  expedi- 
tion of  their  ftiip  to  the  north-west  coaft  of 
America  ;  and  a  failure,  in  the  firft  inftance,  muft 
have  had  an  influence  on  every  farther  operation 
which  depended  on  the  fale  that  would  have  taken 
place  in  China.  He  was  informed,  on  his  arrival, 
that  the  Chinefe  government  had,  under  fevere 
penalties,  juft  prohibited  all  introdudion  of  furs 
into  the  fouthern  parts  of  the  empire,  and  parti- 
cularly that  of  otter-lkins.  The  rigour  of  this 
prohibition  was  pretty  generally  attributed  to  fome 
ftipulation  made  in  favour  of  the  Ruffians,  in  the 
new  treaty  of  commerce  between  the  Emperor  of 
China  and  the  Emprefs  of  Russia,  a  treaty  that 
muft  neceftarily  have  originated  from  the  difputes 
which  had  occurred  latterly  between  thefe  two 
powers,  and  which  were  known  to  have  been  ter- 
minated to  the  fatisfadion  of  both  ;  byt  fome  per- 
3  fons 


Nov.  1791. J         MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


95 


fons  who  thought  themfclves  more  clearfighted  or 
better  informed,  conceived  that  the  prohibition  was 
to  be  imputed  folely  to  the  avarice  and  cupidity 
of  the  Mandarins.    From  whatever  caufe  it  arofe, 
the  prohibition  fubfifted  in  all  its  force,  and  it 
even  appeared  impofiible  to  be  evaded.  Already 
a  Spanifh  fhip,  which  had  come  from  Manilla 
with  three  hundred  otter- flcins,  had  been,  from 
the  impofiibility  that  was  experienced  of  dealing 
with  the  Chinefe  traders,  forced  to  depofit  her 
cargo  in  a  ilorehoufe,  on  which  the  fenate,  felf- 
denominated  Portuguefc,  but  adling  only  at  the 
voice  or  through  the  impulfe  of  a  Mandarin,  were 
obliged  to  caufe  the  feals  to  be  affixed  :  anEnglifh 
fhip,  likewife  laden  with  furs,  had,  by  going  up 
to  Wham-Poa  or  Wam-Pu^  attempted  to  elude 
the  vigilance  of  the  cuftoms  -,  but  not  having  been 
able  to  procure  the  fale  of  a  fmgle  Ikin,  her  com- 
mander refolved  to  carry  his  whole  cargo  to  Eng- 
land :  a  Portuguefe  brig  and  another  Englifh  vef- 
fel  were  expeéled  from  the  coaft  of  America  with 
cargoes  of  the  fame  kind,  and  it  was  fuppofed  that 
a  French  fliip  which  was  to  have  been  difpatched 
from  Port  TOrient,  fmce  the  Solide  had  failed 
from  France,  might  have  the  fame  deftination,  and 
arrive  at  Macao  in  the  next  feafon.    This  union 
of  unfavourable  circumftances  left  little  hope  of 
•  trading  with  advantage,  even  in  cafe  that  the  pro- 
hibition fhould  happen  to  be  taken  off  during  the 
Solide's  ftay  at  Macao;  for  the  great  competi- 
tion 


r)ê  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.         [Nov.  1791. 

tion  of  venders  muft  necefîarily  have  lowered  the 
furs  to  fuch  prices  that  the  fale  would  yield  a  lofs 
rather  than  a  profit. 

Captain  Marchand,  however,  before  he  came 
to  any  determination,  waited  till  he  received  an 
anfwer  from  the  correfpondents  of  the  houfe  of 
Baux,  fettled  at  Canton  (Quang-Tcheou-Fou), 
to  whom  he  had  written  in  order  to  procure  more 
precife  information  ;  but  this  anfwer  confirmed 
every  thing  that  he  had  heard  at  Macao  :  the 
impoffibility  of  felling  at  Canton  the  cargo  of 
furs,  on  account  of  the  prohibition  ;  the  inutility 
of  going  up  to  Wham-Poa,  where  the  fhip, 
although  not  of  a  confiderable  burden,  would  be 
taxed  by  duties,  the  fum  of  which  would  amount 
to  no  lefs  than  fix  thoufand  dollars.  A  tax  fo 
enormous  was  occafioned  by  the  want  of  adivity 
of  foreign  trade  ;  this  year,  there  was  fcarcely 
reckoned  in  the  port  of  Canton,  half  the  number 
of  fhips  that  had  come  to  trade  there  the  pre- 
ceding yeari  and  the  Mandarin  colledlor,  being 
obliged  to  pour,  annually,  into  the  treafury  of 
the  empire,  an  equal  fum,  whatever  may  have 
been  the  produce  of  the  cufioms,  finds  a  very 
fimple  method  of  bringing  this  produce  to  a  par 
with  his  obligation,  and  even,  it  may  be  fuppofed, 
of  rendering  it  much  greater  ;  he  doubles  or  triples, 
at  his  pleafure,  and  according  to  circumftances,  the 
duties  to  be  levied  on  fliips  that  touch  at  Canton. 
The  Chinefe  government,  whatever  encomiums 

may 


Nov.  1791.]         MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE*  9^ 

ni  ay  have  been  pafTed  by  feveral  writers  on  the 
wifdom  of  its  adminiftration^  feems  to  be  ftill  igno- 
rant that  the  augmentation  of  duties  does  not  pro- 
mote the  increafe  of  the  produce  ;  and  that,  mod 
frequently,  a  quite  contrary  effed  muft  thence 
follow* 

From  the  certain  information  which  Captain 
IViARCHAND  had  juft  received,  he  relinquifhed 
every  idea  of  a  fale,  even  by  having  recourfe  to 
the  channel  of  fmuggling,  the  only  one  that  re- 
mained open  to  him,  and  he  refolved  to  put  to  fea 
as  foon  as  poiïible,  in  order  to  proceed  to  the  Ifle 
of  France  ;  where,  according  to  the  inftru^tions 
of  his  owners,  money  v/ould  be  tranfmitted  to  him 
for  a  further  commercial  operation. 

The  correfpondents  of  the  houfe  of  Baux  had 
annexed  to  their  anfwer,  a  memorandum  of  the 
prices  at  which  furs  had  fold  the  preceding  year  : 
it  was  there  feen  that  the  price  of  otter-fkins  of 
the  firft  quality  had  not  rifen  to  more  than  fifteen 
dollars.  In  comparing  thefe  prices  with  thofe  of 
former  years,  which  we  learn  from  the  detail  given 
of  them  by  the  Editor  of  Dixon's  Journal*,  there 
appears  a  confiderable  decreafe  in  the  profits  with 
which  the  Europeans  flattered  themfelves  from  this 
new  branch  of  commerce  :  in  1786^  Captain 
Hanna  had  fold  fldns  of  this  defcription  at  the 
rate  of  fixty  dollars  ;  in  1787,  they  had  fallen  to 


*  Dixon's  Voyage,  page  316  and  following. 
VOL.  il.  H  fifrvs 


98 


MARCH ANd's  voyage.         [NoV.  1/9 1»" 


fifty;  but,  in  1788,  Captain  Me  ares  made  them 
rife  to  feventy,  and  fome  even  to  ninety -one  ; 
though  in  the  fame  year,  and  fhortly  after,  thofe  of 
Captains  Portlock  and  Dixon  experienced  a 
confiderable  decreafe:  the  markets  of  China 
were  already  abundantly  fupplied,  and  there  was 
felt  the  inevitable  efFe6t  of  too  large  a  flock  :  the 
flcins,  exported  latterly,  greatly  exceeding  the  pro- 
portion of  the  wants  forefeen,  the  new  and  the  old 
Were  reciprocally  depreciated. 

But  the  tafte  of  the  Chinefe  for  furs  is  fo  decided, 
fo  general,  and  this  nation  is  fo  wedded  to  its 
habits,  that  it  may  be  prefumed,  that,  if  the  pro- 
hibition be  not  fpeedily  taken  off,  the  activity 
of  the  venders  and  the  eagernefs  of  the  purchafers, 
feconded  by  the  cupidity  of  a  Mandarin,  will  find 
means  to  evade  the  law,  as  has  happened  with  re- 
fpe6l  to  the  introduction  of  opium  ;  and,  the  ave- 
nues being  then  open  to  fmiiggling,  the  prices 
will  rife  or  fall  alternately,  in  proportion  to  the 
difficulties,  more  or  lefs  great,  which  this  illicit 
traffic  may  meet  with. 

Captain  Marchand,  during  his  flay  at  Macao^ 
had  frequent  occafions  of  experiencing  the  injuflice 
and  oppreffion  of  the  Chinefe  government,  of  which 
there  is  no  voyager  who  does  not  loudly  complain, 
if  he  has  made  ever  fo  fhort  a  flay  in  the  only  port 
gf  China,  the  accefs  to  which  is  open  to  foreigners. 
Obliged  to  apply  to  a  Compradory  or  Chinefe  bro- 
ker, for  the  purchafe  of  their  provifions,  which 

.tlie/ 


Nov.  1791.]        MARCtlAND's  VOYAGE, 


99 


they  are  not  permitted  to  procure  for  themfelvesi 
they  pay  for  every  article  double  its  value.  The 
Portuguefe  government  of  Macao  is  in,  à  ftate  of 
debafement  which  can  be  compared  only  to  the  in- 
fol.ence^  the  avidity,  and  the  knavery  of  a  Man- 
darin. There  it  is  that  are  to  be  feen  the  conque- 
rors of- India,  the  fucceffors  of  the  great  Albu- 
querque, in  the  dependence,  and,  in  a  manner^ 
under  the  ferula  of  a  Chinefe  cuftom-houfe  officer, 
who,  with  the  title  of  Hoppo^  exercifes  a  fort  of 
defpotic  fovereignty  -,  every  moment,  makes  the 
rulers  of  Asia  kifs  the  iron  rod  by  which  they 
are  opprelTed;  and  feems  to  revenge  this  part  of 
the  world,  for  the  tyranny  of  the  firft  Europeans 
that  the  ocean  threw  on  its  fliores* 

I  fhould  deem  it  fuperfiuous  to  enter  into  any 
detail  refpeding  the  government,  the  manners,  the 
cuftoms,  and  the  arts  of  the  Chinefe  :  there  is  no 
voyager,  no  miffionary,  who  has  not,  on  this  fub- 
jedt,  filled  whole  volumes  ;  and,  probably,  there 
is  not  one  who  has  not  faid  too  much  good  or  too 
much  ill  of  thefe  various  matters.  We  IHould  im- 
bibe an  opinion  undoubtedly  too  unfavourable  of 
them,  if  we  were  willing  to  judge  of  the  empire 
and  its  two  hundred  millions  of  inhabitants,  from 
the  report  of  navigators,  who  all,-  from  Commo- 
dore Anson,  have  improved  the  one  on  the  other, 
in  order  to  paint  by  new  touches,  always  more 
hideous,  the  dilhonefty  of  the  Chinefe  government, 

H  2  .  which,, 


100 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.        (Uov.  tjgi^ 


which,  according  to  their  accounts,  can  be  equalled 
only  by  that  of  the  individuals  to  whom,  fays  the 
philofophic  hiftorian  of  the  two  Indies,  there  no 
longer  remains  that  fhame  common  to  all  knaves^ 
who  choofe  to  be  fo,  but  who  do  not  fufFer  people 
to  tell  them  of  it*.  But  navigators  abfolutely 
infift  that  we  fhouîd  judge  of  all  China,  by  the 
city  of  Canton,  the  only  one  of  which  they  can 
get  a  glimpfe,  and -into  which  they  are  not  allowed 
to  penetrate  but  with  formalities  that  would  render 
null  the  talents  of  the  obferver  the  moft  clear- 
fighted,  and  the  mod  habituated  to  form,  by  a 
rapid  glance,  a  judgm.ent  of  men  and  things. 
In  reading  what  they  fay  of  China,  we  recall 
to  mind,  in  fpite  of  ourfelves,  that  well-knowa 
anecdote  of  a  traveller,  who  having,  in  an  inn, 
had  an  altercation  with  the  miftrefs  of  the  houfe, 
that  was  red-haired  and  ill-tempered,  noted  down 
in  his  common-place  book,  that  all  the  women  of 
the  country  were  ill-tempered  and  red-haired. 
How  can  Europe  ever  fix  its  opinion  refpeding 
an  immenfe  empire,  alike  fhut  againft  ftrangers 
who  have  not  the  liberty  of  entering  it,  and  againft 
the  natives  who  have  not  that  of  coming  out  of 
it  ?  Perhaps,  in  ■  order  to  fucceed  in  forming  an 
idea  that  would  come  near  the  truth,  we  muft 

*  Raynal,  Hiftolre  Philo/ophique  et  Politique  des  EtabliJJemem 
et  du  Commerce  des  Européens  dans  Us  deux  Indes^ 

wait. 


Nov,  1791-]      marchand's  voyage. 


101 


wait,  as  Raynal  fays,  till  permiflion  be  given  to 
difinterefled  and  judicious  men,  deeply  verfed  in 
the  language,  both  as  to  writing  and  fpeaking  it, 
to  make  a  long  ftay  at  the  court  of  Pekin,  to  vifit 
the  provinces,  to  inhabit  the  country- places, ,  and 
converfe  freely  with  the  Chinele  of  all  ranks** 
The  enumeration  of  every  thing  that  would  be 
necefTary  for  bringing  us  acquainted  with  China, 
naturally  leads  us  to  pronounce,  that  we  lhall  never 
know  it  otherwife  than  as  we  lately  knew  the  in  fide 
of  a  convent,  from  having  been  jadmitted  fome- 
times  into  the  parlour. 

During  the  Solide's  flay  in  Macao  road,  three 
Englifh  Eaft-Indiamen  pafifed  by  without  flopping, 
and  continued  their  route  in  order  to  proceed  to 
Europe.  Captain  Marchand  availed  himfelf  of 
this  opportunity  of  writing  to  his  owners,  and  of 
addreffing  to  them  the  particular  chart  of  the 
Iles  de  la  Révolution  which  he  had  difcovered, 
on  the  2 2d  of  June  1791,  to  the  north- weft  of  the 
group  of  Las  Marquesas  Mendoça.  We 
are  certain  that  this  chart  reached  France,  and 
that  the  houfe  of  Baux  laid  it  at  the  feet  of  the 
national  Aflembly  upwards  of  four  months  and 
a  half  -before  the  Solide's  return  ^  for,  on  the 
17th  of  April  1792,  the  chart  was  pre  fen  ted  to 
^that  affembly,  which  decreed  that  honourable  men- 

*  Raynal,  Hiflolre  Fh'ilofophtque  et  PoUùque  des  EtahliJJemens 
du  Commerce  dei  Europée7i^  dam  les  deux  Indes, 


tioa 


102 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE,         [NoV,  Ijgi^ 


tion  fhoûld  be  made  of  it  in  the  verbal-procefs  of 
that  day*. 

About  the  fame  time^  arrived  in  the  road  an 
American  brig,  an  officer  belonging  to  which  came 
to  beg  Captain  Marchandas  permilTion  for  the 
furgeon  of  the  Solide  to  go  on  board  of  this 
veflel,  in  order  to  give  his  advice  to  the  captain 
who  was  ill.  Captain  C  h  anal,  being  direéled  to 
repair  thither  Vv^ith  Surgeon  Rob  let,  for  the  pur- 
pofe  of  offering  to  the  American  captain  every 
aiTiftance  in  the  French  captain's  power,  had  an 
opportunity  of  learning  the  objedl  and  the  fuccefs 
of  this  veffei's  voyage. 

She  had  failed,  fifteen  months  before,  from  New 
England.    In  the  beginning  of  May  1791,  fhe 

*  Captain  Chanal  has  procured,  from  the  Archives  of  thq 
Republic,  an  extra(^l  from  this  verbal  procefs,  which  I  tranfcribc 
from  the  original  that  he  put  into  my  hands. 

Archives  of  tfie  French  Republic. 

ExtraSi  from  the  <verhal-procefs  of  the  National  AJfemhîy^ 
of  the  I'^th  of  April  1792,  â^th  year  of  Liberty, 

A  Member  prefents  to  the  AfTembly  a  chart  of  feveral 
**  iflands,  newly  difcoyered  in  the  Indian  feas  by  the  Sieur 
<*  Marchandy  of  Marfeilles,  commander  of  the  Ihip  Solide,  dif. 
"  patched  to  the  South  Sea,  by  Meffrs.  J.  and  D.  Baux,  fhip- 
**  owners  ;  he  moves  that  honourable  mention  fhould  be  made  of 
this  offer.    The  proportion  is  decreed. 

Collated  and  found  conformable  to  the  Original  depofited 
"  in  the  Archives  of  the  French  Republic,  by  me.  Keeper  of 
"  the  Archinjes  ;  in  nvitnefs  'whereof  J  ha've  fgned  and  catifed 
**  to  be  affixed  the  feal  of  the  faid  Archi'ves^  Paris,  fifth 
*'  Ventofe,  year  five  of  the  French  Republic  one  and  indivifible," 

Signed  to  the  Original)  Camus. 

had 


Nov.  1791.]         MARCH  AN  d's  VOYAGE.  IO3 - 

had  put  into  the  Bay  of  La  Madre  de  Dios 
in  the  Ifland  of  Santa  Christina  of  the  Mar- 
<;yESAS  DE  Mendoça  ;  but  her  boats  had  not 
been  fent  on  ftiore,  and  fhe  had  received  on  board 
wood  and  water,  which  the  natives  had  brought  in 
their  canoes.  On  quitting  this  bay,  and  {landing 
to  the  north -weft,  the  American  Captain  had  dif- 
covered  a  group  of  nine  iflands  on  which  he  had 
impofed  names;  but  he  had  not  ftopped  there, 
and  had  not  even  detached  a  boat  to  examine  them 
clofely  and  vifit  them  :  he  had  contented  himfelf 
with  having  a  view  of  them,  and  had  not  thought 
himfelf  bound  to  deviate  from  his  route  for  the 
purpofe  of  acquiring  a  more  particular  knowledge 
of  them. 

From  the  latitude  which  the  American  captain 
gave  to  the  iflands  which  he  had  feen;  from 
their  relative  poficions  with  refpeél  to  each  other, 
and  to  the  Marquesas  de  Mendoça,  Captain 
Chanal  could  not  doubt  that  the  Revolution 
Iflands,  which  Captain  Marchand  had  difcovered 
in  the  month  of  June  of  the  fame  year,  were  the 
fame  as  thofe  which  the  American  captain  had  per- 
ceived in  the  month  of  May  3  or  that  at  leaft  the 
Revolution  Iflands  made  part  of  thefe  latter  j 
for,'-*  fays  Captain  Chanal,  "  Captain  Mar- 
chand  reckoned  only  four  principal  iflands, 
while  the  American  captain  reckoned  nine  in  the 
group  which  hç  difcovered,*' 


I  can- 


104  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.         [Nov.  I79I. 

I  cannot  entirely  adopt  the  opinion  of  Captain 
Chanal  :  I  am  perfuaded,  as  he  is,  that  the 
group  of  the  American  is  the  fame  as  that  of  the 
French  captain  5  but  I  think  that  he  has  not 
rightly  underftood  the  captain  of  the  brig,  and  that, 
when  he  faid  that  his  group  is  compofed  of  rdne 
iflands,  he  meant  that  the  group  of  the  Marquesas 
pE  Mendoça  of  which  till  now'five  iflands  only. 
La  Mad alena,  San  Pedro,  Santa  Christiana, 
La  Dominica,  and  Hood's  îfland,  have  been 
reconnoitred,  is  compofed  of  ni7îey  by  the  addi- 
tion of  û\Q  four  new  iflands  which  he  has  difcovered 
to  the  north- weft  of  the  former  Marquesas  ^  and 
on  what  follows  I  ground  my  opinion  : 

If  the  reader  caft  his  eye  on  the  large  planif- 
phere  which  the  Engliih  geographer  Arrowsmith 
publiflied  in  1794,  he  will  fee  to  the  north-weft 
of  the  Mend  OCA  Iflands,  a  new  group  fituated 
with  refpe6î;  to  thofe  iflands,  as  is,  in  regard  to 
them,  the  Revolution  group  :  both  occupy 
about  a  degree  and  three-fourths  in  latitude  ;  both 
are  compofed  of  four  principal  iflands  and  of  a 
few  iflots  or  rocks  :  and  if  we  did  not  read  Englifli 
names  in  the  place  of  French  names,  we  might 
fuppofe  that  Arrowsmith  has  had  a  knowledge 
of  the  group  of  the  Revolution  Iflands,  dif- 
covered by  Captain  Marchand,  and  which  he 
has  inferred  in  his  planifphere,  from  fome  plan 
where  thefe  iflands  were  not  regularly  placed,  but 
merely  fcattercd  at  hazard.    In  comparing  the 

group 


Nov.  1791']         MARCHANd's  VOYAGE. 


group  delineated  by  the  Englifh  geographer  with 
that  of  which  Captain  Chanal  has  conflruded 
the  chart,  and  in.  carrying  the  eye,  in  this  com- 
parifon,  along  both  groups  from  fouth-eaft  to  north- 
wed,  it  is  feen  that  the  fmall  ifland,  called  Riou's 
Ifland  by  the  Engliih,  is  the  little  Ile  Plate  of 
the  French;  that  Trevennen's  Ifland  of  the  for- 
mer is  Ile  Marchand  of  the  latter;  that  Sir 
Henry  Martin's  Ifland,  the  largeft  of  Arrows 
smith's  group,  is  Ile  Baux,  the  largeft  of  Mar- 
chand's  group;  that  the  two  rocks  called  Her- 
gest's  Rocks  by  the  Englifli,  are  the  rocks  called 
Les^Deux  Frères  by  the  French  ;  ^and  that,  in 
lliort,  the  two  moft  northern  iflands,  which  lie 
i)orth-eaft  and  fou th- weft,  with  refpe6l  to  each 
other,  under  the  Angle  name  of  Robert's  Islands, 
are  Ile  Masse  and  Ile  Chanal,  which  have  be- 
tween them  the  fame  bearing  as  the  former,  and 
whofe  diftance  is  the  fame  on  the  two  charts.  It 
therefore  appears  to  me  proved,  that  if,  as  we 
muft  fuppofe,  the  new  group  which  is  feen  on 
Arrowsmith's  planifphere,  to  the  north-weft  of 
the  Marquesas  de  Mendoça,  is  that  which  the 
American  captain  difcovered,  this  group  is  com- 
pofed  of  a  number  of  iflands  equal  to  that  of  the 
Revolution  Iflands;  and  that  if  this  Captain  has 
faid  that  the  group  which  he  faw  is  compofed  of 
nine  iflands,  he  meant  to  fpeak  of  the  whole^  archi- 
pelago of  the  Marquesas,  of  which  the  four  new 
iRands  (that  we  reckon  for  five)  are  only  an  inte- 


loS  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  [NoV. 

gral  part,  which,  added  to  the  fve  old  iflands,  dif- 
covered  by  Mend  ana,  and  found  again  by  Cap- 
tain Cook,  form,  in  fa6l,  that  archipelago  com-- 
pofed  of  iflands  ^,  which  the  hydrographer  of 
the  iflands  of  the  Great  Ocean,  Tupia,  had 
delineated  on  his  chart,  before  any  modern  navi- 
gator had  explored  the  portion  of  that  archipelago 
formeriy  difcovered  byMENDANA. 

.  The  fcale  of  Arrowsmith's  planifphere  is  too 
fmall  for  us  to  be  able  to  take,  with  any  degree 
of  precifion,  the  latitude  of  each  of  the  new  iflands 
in  particular,  as  well  as  their  relative  differences  of 
longitude,  and  to  compare  them  afterwards  with 

*  It  appears  that  the  American  Captain  has  not  reckoned  in 
the  number  of  his  iflands  the  fmall  ifland  called,  by  the  Englifti  ' 
Riou's  Ifland  (our  lie  Plate)  \  and  the  new  group  is  thus 
compofed,  according  to  him,  of  only  four  iflands  (the  four  prin- 
cipal iflands  of  thofe  reconnoitred  by  Marchand] y  which,  with 
the  five  Mendoça  Iflands,  compofe  his  whole  group  of  nine  iflands 
that  we  carry  to  ten^  reckoning  our  lie  Plate  for  one. 

The  following  note  is  taken  from  the  Additions  to  Vol.  I. 
of  the  original  4to  edition. — Tranjlator, 

"  Thus  I  reafoned/*  fays  M.  Fleurieu,  "  before  I  had  read 
an  account  of  the  complete  furvey  which  Lieutenant  Hergeji 
made,  in  1792,  of  the  group  fituated  to  the  norths wefl:  of  the 
Marque/as  de  Mcfidoça  ;  but  it  may  be  feen,  in  the  Additions 
to  the  Voyage,  that,  v/ithout  reckoning  our  little^  Z/^»  P/^/^  for 
any  thing  but  an  iflot  or  a  rock,  the  ftorth-^ejî  group  is,  irf 
faft,  compofed  of  ten  iflands,  as  I  had  fuppofed,  becaufe  Cap- 
tain Marchand,  from  the  route  which  he  followed  in  fight  of 
thef:  iflands,  could  not  perceive  one  of  them,  fituated  7  leagues 
to  the  call  ward  of  his  lie  Baux,  and  which  was  called  Riou'^ 
Ifland  by  Lieutenant //é*;-^^.'* 

thofe 


Nov.  1791.]         MARCH  AN  d's  VOYAGE. 


tliofe  which  are  affigned  to  them  by  the  obfer- 
vations  made  and  bearings  taken  by  Captains  Mar- 
chand and  Chanal;  but,  admitting  that  there 
are  differences  rather  confiderable  in  the  latitudes, 
in  the  longitudes,  and,  confequently,  in  the  bear-* 
ings  and  diftances,  thefe  differences  do  not  de- 
ftroy  the  proofs  of  the  identity  of  the  groups  :  for 
jt  is  well  known  that  the  American  captain  had, 
as  it  were,  only  a  glimpfe  of  his,  in  paffing,  and 
jcould,  at  moft,  but  give  a  flvetch  of  it 3, whereas 
Captain  Marchand,  by  numerous  obfervations 
and  bearings,  has  afcertained,  on  the  one  hand,  the 
latitudes  and  the  relative  ficuations  of  the  iflands 
which  compofe  the  Revolution  group  j  on  the 
other,  their  pofition  with  refped  to  the  group  of 
the  Marquesas;  and  as  Captain  Chanal  has 
conftrudled  a  chart  of  it  •  with  the  authorities  of 
which  his  journal  has  made  us  acquainted. 

Captain  Marchand,  undoubtedly,  cannot  af- 
pire  to  the  honour  of  priority  ;  but  he  has  not, 
on  that  account,  like  the  American  captain  who 
anticipated  him,  the  lefs  pretenfion  to  the  honour 
of  the  difcovery  s  for  he  could  not  know,  in  the 
month  of  June  ijgiy  while  he  was  navigating  in 
the  Great  Ocean,  that  a  month  before,  another 
navigator,  fVanding  the  fame  courfe  with  himfelf, 
had  made  the  fame  difcovery.  We  mud,  however, 
grant  to  the  French  Captain  an  additional  merit, 
that  of  having  made  known  to  us  the' natives  of 
the  new  iflands,  and  of  having  fixed  the  geogra- 
3  phical 


MARCH  AN  d's  VOYAGE.        [Nov.  I79I. 


phical  pofitions  of  this  gfoup  with  an  exadnefs 
fijfficient  for  the  fafety  of  navigatton. 

I  muft  not  omit  that  the  American  Captain 
mentioned  to  Captain  Chanal,  that,  during  his 
navigation  in  fight  of  the  new  iflands,  he  conftantly 
perceived,  to  leeward,  an  appearance  of  land,  the 
form,  the  diftance,  and  the  pofition  of  which  had 
not  varied  all  the  time  that  he  was  abreaft  of  thefe 
iflands.  This  remark,  conformable  in  all  points 
to  that  which  was  made  on  board  of  the  Solide, 
in  the  fame  track  of  fea,  and  in  the  fame  fituation, 
fcems  to  afford  nearly  the  certainty  that,  to  lee- 
ward of  this  new  group,  there  exift  other  landg 
ftill  unknown.  » 

Captain  Chanal,  in  his  converfation  with  the 
captain  of  the  American  brig,  picked  up  a  few 
other  particulars  of  his  voyage,  which  will  not 
appear  foreign  to  that  of  Captain  Marchand. 

This  vefîçl  had  traded  for  the  fifteen  hundred 
furs  which  flie  brought  to  Canton,  partly  on  the 
coaft  of  America,  to  the  fouthward  of  Queen 
Charlotte's  Iflands,  partly  along  the  weft  coaft 
of  thofe  iflands  -,  but  flie  had  proceeded  no  farther 
to  the  northward  than  Cloak  Bay,  and  had  em- 
ployed only  forty  days  in  carrying  on  her  trade. 
Her  voyage  prefents  no  difcovery  in  that  quarter. 

During  the  ftay  which,  on  his  return  from  the 
NORTH-WEST  coaft,  the  American  Captain  had 
made  at  Atooi,  the  moft  northern  and  the  largeft 
of  the  weft  group  of  the  Sanpwicp^  Iflands,  hç 

ha4 


Nov.  1791.]         MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  I09 

had  received  on  board  his  vcffel  two  failofs,  who^ 
two  years  before,  had  beeii  carried  off  from  an  En^ 
glifh  brig  by  the  natives  of  the  ifland,  and  were 
obHged  to  employ  no  fmall  lhare  of  cunning  ta 
cffeâ:  their  efcape.    Thefe  two  men  reported  that 
they  had  been  well  treated  ;  but  they  affirmed  that 
they  had  been  convinced  with  their  own  eyes,  that 
thofe  iflanders  are  cannibals,  and  eat  their  pri- 
foners.    I  know  not  what  degree  of  confidence 
ought  to  be  granted  to  the  teftimony  of  thefe  two 
failors  j  but,  it  appears,  on  the  other  hand,  that 
Captain  Cook,  Lieutenant  King,  Surgeon  Ander- 
son, and  feveral  of  the  officers  belonging  to  the 
Resolution  and  the  Discovery,  who  had  made 
it  their  particular  bufmefs  to  inquire  whether  the 
•  natives  of  the  Sandwich  iflands  ought  to  be  ac- 
cufed  of  cannibalifm,  were  never  able  to  obtain 
the  certainty  of  the  fa6t;  and  if  they  have  not 
been  willing  to  pronounce  the  negative,  at  leaft 
they  do  not  fuffer  it  to  be  doubted,  that  they  were 
flrongly  inclined  to  repel  this  horrible  accufation. 
I  leave  others  to  judge  whether  the  teftimony  of 
two  failors,  however  pofitive  it  may  appear,  be 
fufficient  for  deciding  a  queftion,  which  obfervers, 
no  lefs  intelligent  than  enlightened,  and  particularly 
bent  on  inquiries  which  might  fix  their  opinion 
on  this  point,  have  not  fucceeded  in  clearing  up. 
Have  thefe  failors  feen  diftinélly  ?  Have  they  faith- 
fully reported  what  they  favv  ?  Have  they  not  wifhed 
CO  make  a  fort  of  merit,  have  they  not  thought  to 

give^ 


no  ilARGHAND*S  VOYAGE*         [NoV.  I79I, 

give  themfelves  a  degree  of  confideradon  and  im^ 
portance,  in  announcing  themfelvcs  as  men  who 
had  efcaped  the  tooth  of  cannibals  ?  They  may, 
befides^  probably  have  been  deceived  by  appear- 
ances :  for  it  is  well  known,  that  the  cuftom  of 
the  natives  of  the  Sandwich  Iflands  is  to  cut  in 
pieces  the  bodies  of  their  dead  enemies,  which 
they  have  been  able  to  feize  on,  to  burn  their 
fiefli,  and  to  preferve  their  bones  as  trophies,  which 
are  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  their  exploits. 
Thus  it  was  that  they  dealt  with  the  body  of  the 
xjnfortunate  Cook.    When  Captains  Clerke  and 
Gore,  Lieutenant  King,  and  the  other  companions 
of  that  heroic  navigator,  claimed  the  remains  of 
their  Hector,  and  had  obtained  that  they  fliould 
be  reftored  to  them,  thefe  remains  were  wrapped 
up  in  a  large  quantity  of  fine  new  cloth,  and  co- 
vered with  a  fpotted  cloak  of  black  and  white 
feathers*.     We  foundinthe  bundle,"  fays  King, 
both  the  hands  of  Captain  Cook  entire,  which 
were  well  known  from  a  remarkable  fear  on 
<^  one  of  them,  that  divided  the  thumb  from  the 
fore-finger,  the  whole  length  of  the  metacarpal 
bone;  the  fkull,  but  with  the  fcalp  feparated 
from  it,  and  the  bones  that  form  the  face  want- 
"  ing  ;  the  fcalp,  with  the  hair  upon  it  cut  fhortj 
and  the  ears  adhering  to  it;  the  bones  of  both 
*^  arms,  with  the  fkin  of  the  fore-arms  hanging 

♦  Cook's  thitd  Voyage,    Vol.  III.  page  79. 

to 


Nov.  1791  •]         MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  Ill 

*^  to  them  y  the  thigh  and  leg-bones  joined  toge- 
"  ther,  but  without  the  feet.  The  ligaments  of 
"  the  joints  were  entire  ;  and  the  whole  bore  evi- 
"  dent  marks  of  having  been  in  the  fire,  except 
*^  the  hands,  which  had  the  flefh  left  upon  them, 
"  and  were  cut  in  feveral  places,  and  crammed 
with  fait,  apparently  with  an  intention  of  pre- 
"  ferving  them*."  The  Englifli  alfo  claimed  the 
bodies  of  the  marines  who  had.  been  killed  ;  but 
the  natives  explained  that  the  common  people  had 
fhared  their  members  among  them,  and  that  they 
were  irrecoverable  :  they  added  that  they  would 
bring  the  remaining  bones  of  the  captain,  "  thefe 
alone  having  been  preferved  as  belonging  to 
Terreeoboo  (the  principal  chief  of  the  ifland) 
"  and  the  Earees-\.''  In  the  whole  courfe  of  this 
melancholy  treaty,  the  Englifh  gathered  no  indi- 
cation which  could  make  them  fufpeél  that  their 
unfortunate  companions  had  ferved  as  food  to  their 
murderers  :  we  merely  difcover,  in  the  eagernefs 
of  the  chiefs  to  poflfefs  fome  portion  of  a  being 
who  had  feemed  to  them  fupernatural,  whom  they 
thought  invincible,  perhaps  even  invulnerable,  and 
who  had  fallen  under  the  dagger  which  he  himfelf 
had  forged,  we  difcover,  I  fay,  that  defire  natural 
to  warlike  and  half-favage  iflanders,  to  poffefs  a 
monument  of  their  victory,  a  teftimony  of  their 

*  Cook's  third  Voyage,    Vol,  III.  page  79. 
t  Ihtdi  page  8  i , 

valour* 


m  MARCHANDAS  Voyage.      [Now  lygt^ 

valour.  Perhaps  too  fuperflitîon  is  blended  with 
thisfentiment  of  pride;  perhaps^  after  having  dei- 
fied Captain  Cook  in  his  life-time,  they  wiflied, 
by  fharing  his  mortal  part,  to  preferve  his  remains 
in  the  nature  of  talifmans,  or  to  expofe  them,  as 
relics,  to  the  veneration  of  the  people.  Be  this 
as  it  may;  nothing  proves,  nothing  indicates  that 
the  natives  of  the  Sandwxch  Iflands  are  cannibals 
and  wc  lliould  not  be  juftified  in  concluding  that 
they  are  fo,  becaufe  they  facrifice  men  in  certain^ 
ceremonies  :  the  Taheiteans  alfo  facrifice  men,  and 
yet  are  not  cannibals  ;  while  the  inhabitants  of  New 
Zealand,  who,  no  doubt,  are  lefs  fuperflitious 
and  more  cruel,  eat  men,  but  facrifice  none.  The 
natives  of  the  Sandwich  Iflands  have  priefts  ;  they 
therefore  have  fuperflitions  ^  and  human  facrifices 
have  been  in  ufc  among  all  nations  over  whom 
fuperftition  has  reigned  -,  madmen  as  they  were> 
they  imagined  that  the  blood  which  they  fhed  wao 
to  appeafe  the  angry  divinity,  or  obtain  from  his 
power  fignal  protedlion,  and  the  affurance  of  vic^ 
tory,  if  they  marched  to  battle  :  but  hiflory,  which 
has  handed  down  "to  us  the  recital  of  thefe  horrible 
burnt- offerings,  does  not  tell  us  that  the  people 
who  facrificed  men,  carried  their  blind  fury  fo  far 
as  to  devour  their  fellow-creatures  ;  one  of  thefc 
horrors  is  not  infeparable  from  the  other. 

If,  however,  it  were  true  that  the  inhabitants  of 
the  Sandwich  Iflands  were  cannibals,  let  us  hope 
that  their  frequent  communications  with  Europeans 

(which. 


Nov.  1791  •]        MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  II3 

(which,  in  other  refpeffcs,  may  be  fo  fatal  to 
them)  by  foftening  their  ftill  ferocious  manners, 
will  be  the  means  of  caufing  them  to  renounce 
their  execrable  feftivals.  Captain  Cook,  who,  in 
the  Ifland  of  Tahbitee,  had  been  witnefs  of  a 
human  facrifice,  flattered  himfelf  that  the  horror 
with  which  he  had  infpired  the  Taheiteans  for 
thefe  homicidal  ceremonies,  would  abolifh  the  ufe 
of  them  for  ever  :  would  it  then  be  more  difEcult 
to  perfuade  the  former  that,  if  it  is  repugnant  to 
Nature  to  facrifice  a  man,  it  is  ftill  more  repug- 
nant to  her  to  feed  on  his  fiefti  ?  Ah  !  no  doubt, 
the  glory  the  moft  to  be  coveted,  the  fweeteft 
fruits  that  Europeans  ought  to  promife  themfelves 
from  their  long  voyages,  would  be,  that,  in  vifiting 
every  part  of  the  inhabited  earth,  they  might  every 
where  be  able  to  recall  the  favage  to  the  dignity 
of  man,  and  deftroy,  over  the  whole  furface  of 
the  globe,  the  abominable  remains  of  cannibalifm  ! 
In  favour  of  fo  great  a  benefit,  the  philofophcr 
might  forget  fome  of  the  outrages  which  Euro- 
cans,  in  difcovering  the  world,  have  done  to 
umanity. 

The  Captain  of  the  American  brig,  during  his 
ftay  at  the  Sandwich  Iflands,  had  received  on 
board  four  natives  belonging  to  thofe  iflands,  who 
had  offered  to  accompany  him  ;  but  it  appears 
that  they  had  been  foon  difgufted  with  a  kind  of 
life  fo  different  from  that  of  an  iflander  of  the 
Great  Ocean,    One  of  thefe  who  had  come  on 

VOL.  II.  I  board 


V 

s  14       '  MARCHAXd's  VOYAGE.         [NoV.  I79I. 

board  of  the  Solide,  when  the  fhip  lay  to  abreaft 
of  the  Ifiand  of  O-Whyhse  for  the  purpofe  of 
procuring  rcfrefhments  there,  recoUedled  at  Ma- 
cao Surgeon  Roblet,  whom  he  earneftly,  and 
repeatedly  intreated  to  take  him  on  board  the 
French  fliip  :  this  requefl:  could  not  be  complied 
with]  though  he  knew  not  that  to  him  it  would 
have  been  only  to  change  his  prifon.  A  native 
of  the  Sandwich  Iflands  muft  with  difficulty  ac- 
cuftom  himfelf,  or  rather  would  never  accuftom 
himfelf,  to  a  ftate  of  dependence  and  obligatory 
labour  :  curiofity  may  probably  lead  him  to  feek 
employment  in  the  fervice  of  Europeans  who  are 
to  him  a  new  race  of  men,  and  mud  appear  to  him 
extraordinary  and  fuperior,  when  he  compares  their 
induftry  to  his  own  :  but  if  he  have  attained  a 
certain  age,  if  he  have  already  known  how  to  ap- 
preciate liberty,  the  life  of  a  failor  is  not  calcula- 
ted for  him  ;  fhortly  will  he  regret  his  ifland,  his 
woods,  and  his  hut;  and  as  foon  as  he  has  it 
In  his  power,  he  will  return  to  his  home,  revertet 
ad  Juos, 

Captain  Chanal  was  informed  by  the  American 
Captain,  that  the  three- mailed  veffel,  perceived 
from  the  Solide  off  Berkley  Sound,  and  which 
had  been  fufpeded  to  be  one  of  the  frigates  that 
the  Spanifli  government,  under  the  appearance  of 
a  voyage  of  difcovery,  had  difpatched  to  watch  the 
condud  and  tlie  operations  of  the  Englifh,  was 
a  fhip  belonging  to  the  United  States,  and  was 
6  to 


Nov.  1791.]         MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


to  winter  on  the  coaft  :  an  officer  of  this  fhip  and 
fome  of  her  people  had  fallen  viflims  to  the  fury 
of  the  favages,  in  a  harbour  fituated  to  the  fouth- 
ward  of  Nootka  Sound.  He  likewife  learnt  that 
the  brig  which  had  been  perceived  to  the  eaft- 
ward  of  Cox's  Channel,  was  an  American,  and 
that  he  had  left  on  the  coaft,  another  brig  and  a 
fchooner  of  the  fame  nation.  Thefe  three  laft-^ 
mentioned  veflcis  were  to  come  this  year  to  China, 
and  intended  to  return  to  the  north-west  coaft 
of  America  ;  they  had  left  there  a  boat,  which, 
during  the  winter,  was  to  be  employed  in  colleding, 
for  the  following  year,  the  quantity  of  fkins  nc« 
ceffary  for  forming  their  cargoes.  The  fchooner, 
in  her  way  to  the  coaft,  had  anchored  at  O-Why- 
hee:  the  natives  had  killed  two  of  her  people  ; 
and  the  veffel  had  been  forced  to  cut  her  cables 
and  make  fail,  for  fear  the  natives,  too  ftrong  in 
number,  and  become  too  enterprifing,  Ihould  fuc- 
ceed  in  getting  her  into  their  polTeffion. 

Thefe  different  accounts  fufficiently  fhcw  that 
the  Americans  of  the  United  States,  whofe  na- 
vigation and  commerce  are  daily  acquiring  freih 
extenfton,  have  feized  with  ardour,  and  without 
being  difcouraged  by  the  diftance,  the  new  fup- 
port  which  the  peltry  of  the  north-west  coaft  of 
America  offers  to  their  fpeculations,  to  their  in- 
duftry,  and  to  their  want  of  enriching  themfelves 
in  order  to  pay  the  public'  debt  :  to  the  nations 
of  Europe,  they  are  become  formidable  compe- 

Ï  2  titorsj 


lié  marchand's  voyage.       [Nov.  1791. 

titers  y  and  their  a6livity  is  by  no  means  inferior 
to  that  of  the  Englilh.  It  is  well  known  too 
that  the  Spaniards,  under  the  name  of  the  Philip- 
pine Company,  are  endeavouring  to  rival  both; 
and  even  the  Portuguefe  of  Macao,  roufed  from 
their  lethargic  languor  by  the  feducing  allurement 
of  the  enormous  profits  that  the  firfl:  operations 
have  yielded,  have  attempted  to  engage  in  the 
new  career  which  had  juft  been  opened  to  cupidity. 
Thus,  Europe,  Asia,  and  Nortii-east  America, 
by  a  fimultaneous  movement,  have  direded  their 
fnips  towards  the  north-west  coafts  of  the  New 
World,  and  vied  with  each  other  in  multiplying, 
without  principles  as  well  as  without  prudence, 
their  bold  fpeculations. 

But  the  fur-trade  has  limits  fixed  by  nature  and 
by  reafon  :  {peculations  ought,  on  the  one  hand, 
to  be  combined  with  the  population  of  a  country 
far  from  favourable  to  the  multiplication  of  men, 
and  with  the  time  neceHary  for  the  reprodudlion 
of  the  animals  againft  which  they  make  war,  and 
for  whofe  ikins  trade  is  waiting  ;  on  the  other  hand, 
with  the  annual  confumption  that  may  be  made 
of  thefe  furs,  when  the  introduélion  of  them  is 
free,  by  the  people  of  that  empire  of  Asia,  to 
which  the  total  produce  of  the  trade  of  America 
is  configned. 

Before  the  voyages  of  our  time  had  made  known 
the  part  of  the  north-west  coaft,  comprifed  be- 
tween the  fiftieth  and  fixtieth  parallel  north,  Rus- 
sia 


Nov.  1791.]        MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


117 


siA  had  already  created  this  trade  ;  and  it  feemed 
likely  to  be  to  her  a  fort  of  exclufive  property, 
which  her  geographical  pofition  might  infure. 
The  Englifli  carried  to  St.  Petersburg,  as  they 
ftill  carry  thither  at  this  day,  their  peltry  from 
Canada  and  Hudson's  Bay  :  thence,  taking  the 
road  of  the  interior,"  partly  by  land,  partly  by  the 
lakes  and  rivers,  and  augmented  on  the  route,  by 
the  addition  of  the  furs  furnifhed  from  Siberia, 
and  by  thofe  which  the  navigation  of  the  Ruffians 
has  procured  them,  fmce  they  have  difcovered 
the  Archipelago  of  the  Ku riles,  that  of  the 
Aleutian  Iflands,  and  the  continent  of  America 
above  the  fixtieth  parallel,  all  thefe  furs  afTembled 
arrived,  after  a  pafTage  of  feveral  months,  at  the 
frontier  town  of  Kiatchta  *,  the  mart  of  the 
Ruffians  i  and  traffic  was  open  with  Maimats- 
CHiNf,  the  town,  or  the  market  of  the  Chinefe, 
which  is  feparated  from  the  former  only  by  the 

rivulet 

*  Kiatchta  is  lituated  a  little  to  the  northward  of  the  fftieth 
parallel  ;  and  it  is  an  error  of  the  prefs  which  places  it  in  the 
latitude  of  thirty -finje  degrees,  in  the  eftimable  work  of  William 
Coxtf  entitled  Account  of  the  Ruffian  Di/co^eries  hetnucen  AJia 
and  America,    London,  1780.  4to.  page  212. 

+  "  The  frontier  town  of  China,*'  fays  Coxe,  page  214  of 
the  work  quoted  in  the  preceding  note,  "  is  called  by  the 
"  Chinefe  and  Mougols,  Maimàt/chin,  which  fignifies  fortrefsof 
"  commerce-^'*  but  the  Chinefe  have  another  emporium,  that  of 
Zuruchaita,  alike  fituated  on  the  frontier  of  Siberia,  on  the 
weftern  branch  of  the  rv7Qv  Argoony  12°  40' more  to  the  eaft- 
ward,  and  about  a  degree  lefs  to  the  northward  than  Kiatchta, 

13  Formerly 


ii8  marchand's  voyage.       [Nov.  1791. 

rivulet  of  KiATCHTA.  From  Maimatsghin  the 
furs  reached  Pekin,  ànd  thence  were  diftributed 
throughout  the  whole  empire.  It  is  eafy  to  con- 
ceive that  the  new  introdudlion  of  furs  by  fea  and 
the  fouthern  ports  of  China,  by  calling  the 
Englifh,  the  Americans^  the  French,  the  Spaniards, 
and  the  Portuguefe  to  a  fliare  of  this  trade,  by 
cccafioning  them  to  enter  into  competition  and 
rivality  v/ith  the  Ruffians,  mull  make  the  merchan- 
dife  that  is  the  objedl  of  it,  fall  to  prices  which  no 
longer  hold  out  a  fufficient  profit  to  excite  and 
maintain  the  a6livity  of  frefli  fpeculations. 

It  may  therefore  be  forefeen,  that  the  maritime 
nations  will  do  each  other  a  mutual  prejudice,  by 
crowding  too  much  to  the  markets  of  China; 
at  the  fame  time  that  they  will  reciprocally  injure 
one  another  in  their  purchafes,  by  a  too  great 
refcrt  to  the  north-west  coaft  of  America. 
Doubtlefs,  they  have  already  perceived  that,  if 
they  are  defirous  of  preferving  this  valuable  branch 
of  trade,  and  of  preventing  it  from  drying  up  in 
their  hands,  they  mud  not  require  from  it  more 
fruit  than  it  can  yield  without  being  exhaufted. 
Let  them  haften  then,  if  yet  it  be  time,  let  them 


Formerly  the  commerce  carried  on  at  Zuruchaita  was  confi- 
"  derable  ;  but  at  prefent  it  is  fo  trifling  that  it  hardly  deferves 

to  be  mentioned;  almoft  the  whole  traffic  between  Ru£îa  and 
"  China  is  confined  to  Klatchia,'*  {Ruffian  Difconjerusy  bj  Wo 
Coxe^  page  241  and  245,) 

haften 


Nov..  1.791.]      marchand's  voyage. 

haflen  to  relax  and  arrange  their  hitherto  diforderly 
operations,  in  order  to  regulate  their  extent  by  the 
quantity  of  furs  which  it  is  f^pffible  to  draw  annually 
without  drying  up  their  fource,  and  by  the  pre- 
fumable  proportion  of  the  vents  that  may  be  open 
to  the  general  produce  of  the  trade.  The  intereft 
of  commerce  and  that  of  the  fciences  are  here 
blended;  and  we  muft  wifli  that  a  condud  far  from 
rational  and  difap pointed  hopes,  may  never  force 
the  Europeans  to  interrupt  that  interefting  fuccef- 
fion  of  voyages  into  the  Great  Ocean,  which, 
by  multiplying,  in  every  direction,  the  tracks  of 
our  ihips,  muft  indubitably,  and  in  the  courfe  of 
a  few  years,  perfe6t  the  defcription  of  the  parts 
of  the  globe  little  known,  and  obtain  a  frefli  in^ 
crcafe  to  the  ftock  of  our  knowledge. 


CHAP. 


tie 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.        [Dec.  I791. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

DEPARruRE  from  Macao. — P^Jfage  of  the  China 
Sea. — Rectification  of  the  Chart  of  that  Sea»— 
The  Solide  pajfes  through  Gafpar's  Strait  between 
the  Tflands  of  Banca  and  B ill i ton. — New  Plan  of 
the  two  Straits  which  prefent  themf elves  between 
thefe  ijlands, — Thefe  Straits  preferable  to  that  of 
Bmcâ,~Navigation  from  Gafpar's  Strait  to  the 
Ifle  ^  France. — Arrival  at  Port  du  Nord-Oueft 
(Port  North -weft)  in  this  laft-mentioned  ijland. 
^Tranfa5tions  there, 

ripHE  Solide  fet  fail  from  Macao  Road  for  the 
Ifle  of  France,  on  the  6th  of  Decenaber,  at 
half  pad  ten  o'clock  in  the  evening,  and  diredcd 
her  courfe  fo  as  to  ftrike  foundings  on  the  Mac- 
clesfield Bank,  fituated  towards  the  latitude  of 
15°  45'  north,  in  the  middle  of  the  China  Sea. 

On  the  8th,  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
foundings  were  ftruck  on  it,  in  fixty-five  fathoms, 
the  bottom  broken  fhells,  mixed  with  fmall  black 
and  white  gravel.  Two  hours  before,  no  ground 
could  be  reached  with  a  line  of  eighty  fathoms. 

Having  afcertained  the  fituation  of  the  fhip  by 
thefe  foundings,  which  Captain  Marchand  could 
not  doubt  to  belong  to  one  of  the  limits  of  the 
bank,  he  fleered  fouth-weft  in  order  to  get  fight 
of  Pulo-Sapataj  fmall  iflands  fituated  towards 

the 


Dec.  1791.]         MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  121 

the  tenth  parallel  north,  about  the  diftance  of  forty- 
two  leagues  from  the  fouth-eaft  point  of  the  king- 
dom of  Camboja. 

On  the  1 1  th,  a  little  time  after  noon,  the  fea, 
which  till  then  had  been  rough,  fell  all  on  a  fud- 
den  ;  and  it  was  not  without  great  furprife  that,  at 
forty  minutes  paft  four  in  the  afternoon,  he  per- 
ceived to  the  weft  by  fouth,  at  the  diftance  of 
about  five  leagues  eftimated  by  the  eye,  an  ifland 
in  a  fituation  where,  by  the  courfe  which  the  fhip 
had  fteered,  none  ought  to  be  met  with. 

According  to  the  latitude  of  ii**  14,  which 
had  been  obferved  at  noon,  and  the  run  which 
the  ftiip  had  made  fmce  that  moment,  the  land 
that  was  in  fight  could  be  only  the  iflands  called 
the  Two  Brothers,  fituated  on  Alexander 
Dalrymple's  Chart  of  the  China  Sea,  at  the 
diftance  of  eleven  leagues  weft  by  north  3®  weft: 
from  the  moft  eaftern  of  the  Pulo-Sapata* 

Although  the  land  that  was  perceived  could 
be  no  other  than  the  Two  Brothers,  yet  there 
remained  fome  uncertainty  in  this  refpedl  ;  becaufe 
on  the  fuppofition  that  it  was  the  Two  Brothers, 
the  fhip  ought  to  have  paffed  fo  near  to  the 
moft  fouthern  iflands  of  thofe  which  compofe 
the  Paracels,  that  it  would  have  been  impofîible 
for  our  navigators  not  to  have  feen  them,  and 
yet  not  one  of  them  had  been  perceived.  On 
confulting  the  Table  of  geographical  pofitions  in- 
ferted  in  the  Connoijfance  des  Tmp^  (French  ephe- 

meris. 


ta  2 


marchand's  voyage,      [Dec.  1791» 


meris,  or  nautical  almanac),  which  gives  the  lon- 
gitude of  Pltlo-Sapata,  as  it  was  determined  by 
the  obfervations  made  in  Cook*s  third  voyage. 
Captain  Marchand  thôught  he  difcovered  that 
this  iOand  is  placed,  on  Dalrymple's  chart, 
about  too  far  to  the  weft  ward  :  and  as  the  Two 
Brothers  muft  have  been  laid  down  there  from 
their  bearing  and  diftance  in  regard  to  Pulo- 
Sapata,  he  judged  that  the  error  of  their  pofition 
muft  be  the  fame  as  that  of  the  pofition  of  thefe 
latter  iflands.  From  the  moment  that  he  had 
perceived  the  Two  Brothers,  he  fteered  fouth- 
weft  and  fouth-weft  by  fouth  ;  and  at  fix  o'clock, 
they  bore  from  weft  26°  north  to  weft  45®  north. 
He  then  ftood  on  to  get  fight  of  the  largeft  of 
the  group  of  the  Pulo-Sapata  ;  and  about  mid- 
night, by  the  help  of  the  moon,  he  difcovered  it 
to  the  fouth-weft  by  weft.  This  ifland  is  fmall  and 
barren,  but  high  land  ;  and  its  form,  which  is 
that  of  a  Jhoe,  as  its  name  indicates*,  admits  not 
of  miftaking  it  and  confounding  it  with  another 
ifland  f  :  in  clear  weather,  it  may  be  feen  ten 
or  eleven  leagues  from  the  deck  of  a  merchant- 
fliip.    He  fteered  fo  as  to  ro;ind  it  at  a  fuitable 

*  Zapato  and  Capato,  fhoe,  in  Spanifh  and  in  Portuguefe, 
+  "  When  Pulo-Sapata  bears  north,"  fays  George  Rohertfon^ 
it  is  extremely  curious  in  appearance,  and  looks  as  if  it  were 
going  to  fall  to  the  right  ;  both  fides  in  that  point  of  view 
ftand  a  great  way  off  their  centre,*'  (See  Memoir  of  a  Chart 
vf  the  China  Seaj  &c.  London,  1791,  410.  page  6). 


diftance  5 


Dec.  1791.]        MARCHANd's  VOYAOE.  IÎ3 

diftance  ;  and  at  three  quarters  paft  midnight^  it 
bore  diredly  weft,  diftant  four  or  five  miles. 

This  remark  of  Captain  Chanal  has  appeared 
to  me  to  defervc  to  be  examined  with  attention, 
becaufe  it  points  out  two  corrections  to  be  made  : 
the  one  in  the  Chart  of  the  China  Sea  by  Alexander. 
Dalrymple,  a  copy  of  which  is  to  be  found  in  the 
fécond  edition  of  the  Neptune  Oriental  of  D^Après 
DE  Mannevilette,  and  on  which  all  the  French 
navigators  regulate  their  courfe  in  the  China  Sea  ; 
the  other  on  the  General  Chart  of  the  Worlds  by 
Lieutenant  Roberts,  which  accompanies  the  ac- 
count of  Captain  Cook's  third  voyage.   The  error 
in  Dalrymple's  chart  lies  in  the  longitude  of 
Pulo-Sapata,   reverts  on  that  of  the  Two  • 
Brothers,  and  is  owing  to  the  difference  of 
meridian,  on  this  chart,  between  Pu  lo- Sap  at  a 
and  Macao  being  too  great  by  50  minutes  of 
a  degree^.    The  error  in  the  chart  of  Cook's 
third  voyage  confifts  in  its  placing  the  Two  Bro- 
thers to  the  north  about  /fP eafi  of  Pulo-Sapata^ 
whereas,  by  the  route  v/hich  the  Solide  followed, 
in  pafling  from  the  former  iflands  to  the  latter,  the 
Two  Brothers  muft  be  fituated  to  the  north 
about  22°  wefl  of  Pulo-Sapata,  nearly  in  the 
pofition  in  which  they  are  feen  on  Dalrymple's 
chart  j-.    I  refer  the  reader  to  the  Nor  es  which 
are  to  be  found  at  the  end  of  this  narrative,  for 

*  Note  LX. 
f  Note  LXI, 

thç 


144  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.        [DeC.  1791. 

the  detail  of  the  combinations,  calculations,  and 
trigonometrical  operations,  by  which  I  have  en- 
deavoured to  determine  the  quantity  of  this  error. 
The  excellent  Memoir  which  G.  Robertson  pub- 
lifhed  in  1791,  for  the  elucidation  of  his  capital 
.  Chart  of  the  China  Sea^  has  been  very  ufeful  to  me 
for  the  firft  of  the  corrections  to  be  made  i  and  if 
my  refults  differ  fometimes  from  his,  I  am  not  the 
lefs  indebted  to  him  for  a  great  number  of  data^ 
with  which  his  inquiries  have  furnifhed  me,  but 
which  have  not  always  led  me  to  the  fame  con- 
fequences  that  he  thought  he  might  draw  from 
them.  The  difcuflion  in  which  I  was  involved  by 
the  combination  of  thefe  various  data,  has  put 
me  in  the  way  of  treating  of  the  pofition  of  fomc 
points  of  the  China  Sea,  which  it  was  important 
to  fix  with  the  precifion  neceffary  for  leffening  the 
perils  of  navigation,  in  a  fea  where  the  currents 
which  mafter  fhips,  leave  a  great  uncertainty  ref- 
pe6ling  their  dire6lion  and  velocity,  and  where 
iflots,  fand-banks,  and  dangers  of  all  forts  prefent 
themfelves  every  moment. 

Captain  Marchand  took  his  departure  from 
Pulo-Sapata,  which  he  fuppofed  ought  to  be 
placed  in  the  latitude  and  longitude  deduced  from 
the  obfervations  made  in  Cook's  third  voyage  j 
and  he  dire6led  his  courfe  to  the  fouth-weft,  in 
order  to  make  Pulo-Timoan. 

He  had  the  firft  view  of  it  to  the  fouth-fouth- 
wefl,  on  the  15th  at  fix  o'clock  in  the  morning, 

at 


Dec,  1791-]        MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


at  the  moment  when  the  foundings  were  thirty- 
eight  fathoms,  over  a  bottom  of  rather  hard  mud  ; 
and  at  eight  o'clock,  Pulo-Timoan  bore  fouth- 
fouth-weft,  and  Pulo-Pissang  fouth  half- weft. 
This  latter  ifland  is  the  largeft  of  a  group  fituated 
near  the  Malay  coaft,  between  the  parallels  of 
2  and  3®  north,  and  compofed  of  the  Iflands  or 
Puloy  Varela,  Aor,  Timoan,  Pissang  and 
TiNGi  :  Pissang  is  a  high  land,  which  may  be 
difcerned  at  the  diftance  of  twenty  or  twenty-one 
leagues. 

Clouds  did  not  admit  of  obferving  the  meridian 
altitude  of  the  fun;  but  at  three  quarters  paft 
two  o'clock,  PuLo-AoR  (or  Pulo-Laor,  accord- 
ing to  D'Anville*)  was  feen  at  the  diftance  of 
four  leagues  and  a  half,  bearing  fouth-fouth-weft. 
The  eaft  part  of  this  little  group  prefents  very 
high  land,  forming  two  hills,  which  lie  in  regard 
to  each  other  fouth-eaft  and  north-weft,  the  moft 
cafterly  of  which  is  the  higheft.  Its  geographical 
pofition  was  determined  by  the  obfervations  made 
in  Cook's  third  voyage,  which  fix  its  latitude  at 
1°  42''  north,  and  its  longitude  at  102*^  19'  45"  eaft 
from  Paris  f:  on  deducing  the  pofition  of  the 

fliip 

*  And  according  to  the  natives  of  the  Ifland  Pulo-Wawssn 

+  Lat.  \  According  to  K;«s  . .  2  40  oo  7  Mean  2"  42' oo"N. 
C  According  to  Bajly  . .  2  44  oo  3 
Eaft  from  Paris, 
Long    1  According  to  King  102  16  45  |  Mean  102°  ig'  45" 
^'   3  According  to  Bajly  io2  Z2  45  3  ^^aft  from  Paris. 

Se# 


12^  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.         [Dec.  1791. 

fhip  from  the  bearing  of  Pulo-Aor,  we  find  that 
her  latitude  muft  have  been  2^  56',  and  her  longi- 
tude, 102°  26' i  but  the  dead  reckoning  from  the 
laft  bearing  of  Pulo-Sapata,  on  the  i  ith  at  three- 
quarters  paft  midnight,  gave  f  17'  for  the  lati- 
tude, and  103°  19'  for  the  longitude  -,  and  thence 
it  was  concluded  that,  in  the  interval  from  the 
nth  to  the  15th,  the  currents  had  carried  the  fhip 
21  minutes  to  the  fouthward,  and  53  minutes  to 
the  weftward. 

I  muft  apprize  French  navigators  that  the  fitu- 
ation  of  Pulo-Aor,  on  the  chart  No.  49  of 
D'Après'  Neptune  Orientale  (fécond  edition)  is  not 
conformable  to  the  refults  of  the  obfervations 
made  in  Cook's  third  voyage  :  if  thefe  be  admitted, 
the  latitude  which  on  the  chart  is  only  2°  30',  mufl 
be  increafed  about  i  2  minutes  j  and  on  the  general 
chart.  No.  9  of  this  Colledlion,  where  the  latitude 
is  the  fame  as  on  the  particular  chart.  No.  49,  the 
longitude,  which  is  only  102°,  mufl  be  carried  to 
102^^20'*. 

When 


See  Original  Agronomical  Oh/ewatlom  made  in  a  Voyage 
to  the  Northern  Pacific  Ocean,  Sec,  page  351. — See  alfo  Note 
LX.  at  the  end  of  this  narrative. 

*  In  making  this  criticifm  on  D*Jprh'  two  charts  which  I 
have  defignated,  I  ought  not  to  negled  to  inform'  the  reader 
that  George  Robert/on,  as  well  as  the  French  hydrographer, 
employs  on  his  great  chart  of  the  China  Sea,  the  latitude  of  2** 
30',  and  that  it  is  the  fame  on  Alexander  Dalrjfnple^s  chart. 
Moft  alfuredly,  Robert/on  was  unacquainted  with  the  obferva- 

tions 


Dec.  tfgi'']        MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  12; 

When  the  Solide  had  doubled  Pulo-Aor,  fhe 
fleered  fouth-fouth-eaft  in  order  to  pafs  without 
the  Dooger's  Banks,  which  are  faid  to  be  dan- 
gerous, and  the  pofition  of  which  is  ftill  uncer- 
tain*. 

On  the  17th,  about  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
land  was  perceived  to  the  fouth-fouth-weft.  It 
was  fuppofed,  according  to  the  calculation  made  of 


tlons  of  Ceok's  voyage,  which  are  confiderably  prior  to  the  pub- 
lication of  his  chart,  but  later  than  that  of  Da/rjmple's  chart,  and 
yet  he  has  not  employed  their  refult  ;  nor  has  he  explained  him- 
fclf  in  regard  to  the .  motive  that  may  have  determined  him  not 
to  make  ufe  of  it  ;  but  merely  fays,  (page  9  of  his  Memoir)  that 
the  latitude  of  Pnlo-Aor  or  Pulo-Auro  is  between  2°  29^  and  2® 
30'north.    (See  Note  LX.) 

*  I  tranfcribe  what  G,  Rohert/on  fays  of  the  Dooger^s  Banlsf 
in  the  Memoir  which  he  publifhed  in  1791,  for  the  elucidation 
of  his  chart  of  the  China  Sea,  page  34. 

The  Dooger's  Banks  certainly  exift,  and  are  very  danger- 

ous  :  they  are  placed  on  the  chart,  in  their  true  lituation, 

and  from  the  following  correfponding  accounts  :  I  took  Mr.. 
"  D'Aprh*  diftance  from  Pulo-Panjang  (folio,  No.  49"*^  of  the 

Neptune  Oriental,  2nd  edit.)  allowing  my  own  longitude  of 

that  ifland,  which  places  them  in  40'  north,  and  longitude 
"  105°  26' eaft  :  (or  103°  5'  45"  eaft  from  P<2m)- to  confirm 
"  which  the  Ganges  faw  the  (hoals  ;  her  latitude  of  them  is 

0°  37'  north,  105°  29^6311  from  Green-cvich  ;  fo  that  I  have 
"  little  doubt  of  their  being  nearly  right.'*  - 

I  obferve  that  G,  Robert/on  (page  34  of  his  Memoir)  has  pla- 
ced, by  a  chronometer,  the  longitude  of  Pulo-Panjang  from  that 
which  he  has  given  to  Pulo-  Aor  :  and  as  the  latter,  according 
to  my  calculations,  is  more  eafterly  by  2  minutes  than  that 
adopted  by  Robert/on,  that  of  the  Dooger's  Banks  muft  be  likewife 
increafedby  2  minutes,    {See  Note  LX.) 


out 


128  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  "     [Dec.  I79I. 

the  fhîp's  run,  that  this  mufl:  be  a  fmall  ifland  with- 
out a  name  which-D'ApRÈs*  Chart,  No.  49  (2nd) 
places  a  league  and  a  half  to  the  eaftward  of  the 
eaft  point  of  LiNGiN  Ifland:  Captain  Marchand 
flood  to  the  fouth-fouth-eaft,  in  order  to  double 
the  fmall  ifland  -,  but  fqualls  and  rain  prefently 
concealed  it  from  his  view.  At  three  quarters 
pafl:  ten,  he  founded  in  twenty  fathoms  water,  over 
a  bottom  of  fand  and  ooze. 

In  deducing,  by  the  dead  reckoning,  the  fitu- 
ation  of  the  fliip  from  that  of  Pulo-Aor,  placed 
according  to  the  obfervations  made  in  Cook's  voy- 
age, it  was  found  that,  at  noon,  flie  was  4^  north 
of  the  equino6lial  line,  and  in  103°  12^  eaft  Ion* 
gîtude. 

At  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  land  was 
again  difcerned  to  the  weft  half  fouth,  and  it  was 
judged  to  be  the  fame  that  had  been  feen  in  the 
morning.  The  winds  were  rather  faint  from  the 
weft-north- weft  and  north- weft,  the  weather  over- 
caft,  and  as  Captain  Marchand  intended  to  pafs 
through  the  Strait  of  Banca,  he  hauled  the  wind 
to  make  Pulo-Taya.  But  before  fix  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon,  land  was  feen  ftretching  from  fouth 
to  fouth-fouth-weft.  He  immediately  determined 
oa  anchor  in  order  to  wait  for  daylight,  and  he 
came  to  in  nineteen  fathoms,  over  a  bottom  of 
mud  and  fand 

The  next  day,  at  fix  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
he  difcovered  that  the  land  feen  to  leeward  was 

the 


JDec.  1791-]       marchand's  voyagé^ 


the  northern  coafl  of  the  Ifland  of  Banca,  which 
extended  from  fouth  a  few  degrees  eaft  to  fouth- 
fouth-weft,  diftant  feven  leagues.  He  continued 
to  perceive  the  fame  ifland  which  had  been  feen 
the  day  before,  and  it  bore  north-weft  2*^  weft  ; 
but  near  this  ifland,  and  to  the  north-weft  by  weft, 
was  feen  another  of  a  flat  fnape,  and  larger  than 
the  former  ,  it  was  reckoned  that  the  diftance  from 
the  fhip  to  thefe  two  iflands  might  be  five  or  fix 
leagues. 

According  to  thefe  bearings,  it  could  not  be 
doubted  that  the  currents  had  fet  at  a  very  con- 
fiderable  rate  to  the  Jouth-eaft  :  and  this  efl^edl  does 
not  agree  with  what  is  to  be  found  in  the  failing 
diredions  of  D'Après,  who  fays  that,  in  this  fea^ 
the  currents  fet  ftrongly  to  the  Jouth-wefi,  It  is 
clearly  proved  that  the  fliip  had  been  carried  to 
the  Jouthward  and  eajiward  i  for  the  point  of 
Banca  which  bore  fouth  a  few  degrees  eaft,.  was 
certainly  Point  Pesant,  the  moft  northern  of  the 
ifland,  which  there  was  foon  an  opportunity  of 
verifying  ;  and  it  is  evident  that  the  two  iflands 
which  lay  to  windward,  and  which,  the  day  before, 
had  been  taken  for  the  fmall  ifland  fituated  to  the 
eaftward  of  the  eaft  point  of  Lin  gen  Ifland,  be- 
caufe,  according  to  the  dead  reckoning,  the  fliip 
was  fuppofed  to  be  much  more  to  the  northward 
than  flie  was  in  reality,  it  is  evident,  I  fay,  that 
thefe  were  the  Rigaudière  Iflands.  Captain 
CîiANA^  obfervcs  that,  according  to  their  fltua- 

VOL,  II.  K  tion 


130  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.         [Dec.  I79I. 

tion  on  the  chart  of  the  Neptune  Orientale  (fécond 
edition.  No.  49,  2nd  of  the  fupplement),  and  ac- 
'cording  to  that  of  the  fhip,  Pulo-Toty,  which, 
however,  was  not  perceived,  ought  to  have  been 
feen  at  the  fame  time  :  this  might  induce  the  fup- 
pofition  that  the  laft-mentioned  ifland  is  not  rightly 
laid  down  on  the  chart  with  refped  to  the  Rigau- 
DIÈRE  Iflands,  and  that  it  muft  be  much  nearer  to 
them  :  it  is  even  prefumable  that,  of  the  two 
iflands  which  were  in  fight,  the  one  was  Pulo- 
Toty,  and  the  other,  the  higher  of  the  Rigau- 
D1ÈRE  Iflands,  if,  in  fad,  there  be  two  of  thefe  ; 
for,  although  D'Après  has  laid  down  two  iflands 
on  his  chart,  the  denomination  which  he  gives 
them  of  Ile  Rigaudière,  would  feem  to  indicate 
one  ifland  only:  perhaps  too  the  fécond  is  but  a 
little  iflot  which  cannot  be  perceived  far  ofl\  Be 
this  as  it  may,  of  the  two  iflands  which  were  per- 
ceived from  the  Solide,  at  the  fame  time  that  the 
northern  coaft  of  Banc  a  was  in  fight,  the  one 
bore  north  by  wefl:,  and  the  other,  north-north- 
wefl:  half  north  from  Point  Pesant  (Tong  Ma- 
cooDA,)  at  the  difl:ance  of  about  thirteen  leagues 
from  this  point  *• 

Captain 

*  The  remarks  made  by  Captain  Chanal,  who  navigated  by 
D* Après*  chart,  and  could  not  be  acquainted  with  that  which 
George  Robert/on  did  not  publifli  till  1791,  leads  us  to  conceive 
that  the  I'^rench  chart  is  defeftive  in  this  part  ;  and  we,  are  con- 
firmed in  this  opinion  if  we  call  our  eyes  on  the  Englifh  chart, 
which  is  conftruâed  from  the  various  obfervations  made  on  board 

the 


Bec.  1791.]         ^fARCHAND*S  VOYAGE* 


Captain  Marchand  weighed  anchor  at  half 
paft  feven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  with  a 

breeze 


the  Eaft  India  company's  (hips  that  trade  to  China,  On  this 
are  feen  two  iilands,  the  former,  under  the  name  of  Pulo-Toty 
to  the  eaft,  the  latter,  to  the  weft,  under  the  name  of  Docan^ 
both  fituated  at  the  diftance  of  fourteen  leagues  from  the  eaftern 
extremity  of  Point  Fefant  of  Banca,  The  bearings  differ,  as 
is  feen,  about  a  point  from  thofe  which  were  taken  on  board 
the  Solide^  and  the  diftance  is  the  fame,  within  a  mile  :  but 
Point  Pe/ant  is  not  a  mathematical  point  ;  and,  according  to  the 
part  that  was  fet  of  it,  if  it  lie  more  to  the  eaftward  or  more  to 
the  weftward,  the  bearings  of  the  iflands  which  are  determined 
from  it  muft  experience  a  change  :  the  diftance  muft  be  Icfs 
afFe»5led  by  it  ;  and,  indeed,  that  which  was  eftimated  on  board 
the  Solide,  and  that  given  by  Robertfon's  chart,  differ  from  each 
other  but  a  league.  On  D* Après'  chart,  Pulo-Toty  ftands  alone, 
at  fourteen  leagues'  diftance,  to  the  north  by  weft  of  the  eaftern 
part  of  Point  Pe/ant -,  and  nothing  there  indicates  the  Ifland  of 
Docan,  which  the  Englifli  chart  places  three  leagues  to  the  weft- 
fouth-weft  of  Toty  ;  but  to  the  north  and  the  north  by  eaft  of 
the  latter,  at  fix  or  feven  leagues'  diftance,  D*  Après  places  two 
other  iflands,  Rtgaudïère  and  Saint  Pierre,  which  are  not  to  be 
found  on  Robert/on's  chart  ;  and  thefe  two  iflands  are  placed,  in 
regard  to  each  other,  on  the  French  chart,  at  the  bearings  and 
at  the  diftance  which  the  Englifli  chart  has  given  to  Toty  and 
Docan.  We  are  fully  juftified  in  believing  that,  if  we  judge  by 
the  names  given  to  the  Iflands  Rigaudiere  and  Saint  Pierre, 
their  pofition  has  been  fixed  according  to  the  track  of  fome 
French  fliip  that  had  a  miftake  in  her  reckoning.  Robertfon's 
chart  appears  to  me  to  merit  the  preference  to  that  of  D'Après^ 
becaufe  it  prefents  two  routes,  indicated  by  two  fets  of  found- 
ings, which  pafs  within  two  leagues  of  Pulo-Toty,  and  extend, 
the  former  to  the  north-north-weft,  rounding  the  eaftern  part  of 
Toty,  and  the  latter,  to  the  north  by  weft  :  from  the  former, 
Toty  and  Docan  may  both  have  been  feen  at  the  fame  time  ;  and 
the  track  paflfes  only  within  five  leagues  of  Point  Pe/a?iî, 

K  2  In 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.        [Dec.  I79S. 


breeze  from  the  north  by  weft,  he  plied  to  wind- 
ward, in  hopes  of  reaching  the  northern  entrance 
of  the  Strait  of  Banc  a.  During  the  forenoon, 
the  foundings  were  from  nineteen  to  eighteen 
fathoms  over  a  bottom  of  fand  and  ooze. 

From  the  obfervation  of  the  fun's  meridian  alti- 
tude, it  was  concluded  that,  at  noon,  the  latitude 
of  the  fhip  was  i5^fouth5  and  her  longitude, 
fixed  according  to  the  bearings  of  the  land,  was 
103°  18'. 

Had  the  fhip's  place  been  deduced  from  the  dead 
reckoning  brought  forward  from  Pulo-Aor,  her 


In  continuing  to  compare  the  two  charts  in  this  part,  we  re- 
mark that  Robert/on  places  an  ifland  called  Porio-Bello,  twenty- 
two  leagues  to  the  eaft  half  north  of  Pulo-Tofyy  and  D'Après 
lays  down  none. 

If  we  carry  our  eyes  farther  to  the  weft-north- weft  of  Toty» 
we  fee  that,  on  the  French  chart,  Pulo-Tciya  lies  to  the  fouth 
by  weft  3  or  weft,  and  at  the  diftance  of  ten  leagues  from 
L'lngen  Ifland ;  and  that,  on  the  Englifti  chart,  the  bearing  is 
fouth,  and  the  diftance  eight  leagues  only.  This  latter  chart 
prefents  a  track,  which  muft  have  pafTed  within  fight  of  thefe 
two  points,  and  which,  no  doubt,  has  ferved  to  fix  their  rela- 
tive pofition. 

As  Pulo-Toty  and  Pulo-Taya  are  leading  marks  for  (hips 
which,  in  order  to  get  out  of  the  China  Sea,  ft  and  either  for  the 
Strait  of  Banca,  or  for  that  between  Banca  and  Bilîito?iy  I  have 
thought  tiiat  it  would  be  ufeful  to  make  known  to  French  navi- 
gators who  are  not  provided  with  Rohert/on's  chartf  the  differences 
that  are  to  be  remarked  between  this  chart,  and  that  of  D'Après, 
of  which  they  make  ufe  :  it  will  be  for  them  to  verify,  when 
they  may  find  an  opportunity  of  fo  doing,  which  of  the  two 
charts,  in  this  part,  merits  a  preference. 


latitude 


Dec.  1791.]  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


latitude  would  have  been  only  0°  20'  fouth,  and  lon- 
gitude 102®  57":  in  comparing  this  latter  pofition 
of  the  fhip  with  the  former,  it  is  feen  that,  in  the 
interval  of  two  days  and  a  half,  the  currents  had 
carried  her  near  a  degree  to  the  fouthward,  and 
more  than  a  third  of  a  degree  to  the  eaftward. . 

As  it  was  perceived,  at  half  paft  three  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon,  that  the  currents  were  contrary 
to  the  route.  Captain  Marchand  determined  to 
come  to  an  anchor  at  three  leagues'  diftance  from 
the  northern  coaft  of  Banc  a,  in  (Ixteen  fathoms 
water,  over  a  bottom  of  fand,  gravel  and  fhells. 
The  latitude  of  the  anchorage,  deduced,  by  the 
dead  reckoning,  from-  that  at  noon,  was  i*^  23' 
fouth,  and  her  longitude  103**  27'. 

During  the  night,  the  wind  blew  frefh  from  the 
north-weft  to  the  north,  accompanied  with  fqualls. 
The  velocity  of  the  current  was  eftimated  at  a 
mile  an  hour.  , 

The  part  of  the  Ifland  of  Banc  a  which  our  navî» 
gators  had  coafted,  is  of  a  middling  height  :  but, 
towards  Point  Pesant,  the  moft  northern  point  of- 
it,  are  diftinguifhed  fome  hillocks  more  elevated 
than  the  reft  of  the  ground. 

On  the  19th,  Captain  Marchand  got  under 
way  in  the  courfe  of  the  forenoon,  but  he  was 
obliged  to  anchor  a  fécond  time  ;  he  made  ufelefs 
efforts  to  reach  the  entrance  of  the  Strait  of  Banc  a, 
and  experienced  rather  ftrong  currents,  fome  of 
which  fet  to  the  eaft-north-eaft,  others  to  the  eaft, 

K  3  and 


134  marchand's  voyage.       [Dec.  179 

and  others  to  the  eaft-fouth-eafl.  He  parted  a 
cable  in  this  fécond  anchorage,  where  the  fliip 
pitched  very  heavily,  and  he  was  obliged  to  leave 
the  anchor  behind. 

Perfuaded  that  it  would  be  in  vain  to  perfift  in 
ftruggling  againft  thefe  obftacles,  he  renounced  the 
idea  of  going  out  of  the  China  Sea  by  the  Strait 
of  Banc  A,  and  he  determined  to  fail  out  by  ano- 
ther lirait  fituated  more  to  the  eaftward,  between 
the  Ifland  of  Banca  and  that  of  Billiton. 

This  ftrait,  little  frequented  by  the  French,  is 
known  under  the  names  of  Caspar's,  Billiton's, 
or  Clements*  Strait.  Captain  Marchanp  was  in 
pofîelîion  of  no  plan  of  this  lirait  but  that  which 
is  to  be  found  on  the  flieet  No.  48  of  our  Neptune 
Oriental,  under  the  title  of  Petit  Plan  du  Détroit 
A  l'Est  de  Ban  ça,  par  lequel  a  paffê  un  VaiJJeau 
Efpagnoly  commandé  par  le  Sieur  Caspar  (no  date)  ; 
but  D'Après,  in  publifliing  this  plan,  appeared  to 
doubt  its  corre6lnefs  i  and,  in  his  failing  directions, 
he  gives  notice  that  it  would  be  imprudent  to  enter 
this  ftrait,  till  it  is  better  known.  Since  the  time 
of  this  publication,  feveral  French  and  Englifli 
fbips,  inllead  of  pafllng  through  the  Strait  of 
Banca,  have  taken  thçir  route,  in  order  to  get 
out  of  the  China  Sea,  or  to  enter  it,  by  the  Strait 
Between  Banca  and  Billiton.  This  ftrait  is 
divided  into  two  arms  by  an  ifland,  to  which  its 
fituation  has  occafioned  to  be  given  the  name  of 
Middle  Island:  the  West  Passage  is  properly 

Caspar's 


Dec.  1791.]  '    marchand's  voyage.  •  13^ 

Gaspar's  Strait;  becaufe  it  is  that  by  which  the 
Spanifh  navigator,  who  has  given  us  the  firfl;  plan 
of  it,  had  pafled  :  the  East  Passage,  which  pre- 
fents  feveral  praticable  channels  between  the  fmall 
iflands,  is  called  Clements*  Strait,  becaufe,  in 
1781,  an  Englifh  captain  of  that  name,  command- 
ing a  fleet  of  Indiamen,  is  the  firfl:  known  navigator 
who  attempted  to  go  out  of  the  China  Sea  by 
this  paflTage.  A  chart  of  the  flrait  Between 
Banca  and  Billiton  was  conftru6led  in  1784 
^nd  1785,  by  Dor  de  lin,  a  lieutenant  in  the  French 
navy,  who  paflTed  through  this  fl:rait,  both  in  going 
to  China  and  on  his  return.  This  manufcript 
chart,  which  belongs  to  the  Dépôt  Général  des  Caries  y 
Pîansy  et  Journaux  de  la  Marine^  was  not  publiflied 
at  the  time,  becaufe  Dordelin,  too  fcrupulous,  in 
regard  to  his  own  labours,  and  fearing  to  expofe 
the  fafety  of  fliips  that  might  dired  their  courfe 
by  his  chart,  judged  that  it  ought  not  to  be  ren- 
dered public,  till  a  farther  verification  had  enabled 
him  to  improve  it  :  this  chart,  although  not  per-^ 
fed:  in  all  its  parts,  was  far  fuperior  to  the  defec- 
tive plan  of  the  Spanifh  navigator,  on  whofe  word 
Dordelin  had  not  been  afraid  to  attempt  the 
paflfage  from  the  fouthward,  in  a  contrary  direction 
to  Gaspar,  who  had  found  it  in  coming  from  the 
northward.  Since  then,  Alexander  Dalrymple, 
on  the  one  hand,  and  George  Robertson,  on  the 
other,  have  publifhed  various  plans  and  charts  of 
this  flirait,  confl:ru6ted  at  different  times  by  Englifh 

K  4  navigators  i 


136  MARCliAND'o  \'OYAGE,  [DeC.  Ijgu 

navigators  ;  and  Dalrymplj;  has  printed  in  his 
valuable  Colleâiion  of  nautical  Memoirs  refpedling 
the  Seas  of  Jfia^  the  journals  of  the  captains  of  his 
nation  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  the  plans  and 
charts  of  which  we  are  in  poffeffion. 

But  thefe  plans  and  charts  are  little  known  in 
France,  and  Captain  Marchand,  reduced,  as 
I  have  faid,  to  the  neceffity  of  having  recourfe  to 
the  Hiapelefs  plan  of  Caspar,  in  order  to  dired 
his  route  in  a  lirait,  againft  which  the  French  navi- 
gators were  likely  to  be  prepoffefled,  hefitated  not, 
however,  to  enter  it,  and  feized  with  ardour  the 
opportunity  of  juftifying  or  deftroying  the  uneafi- 
nefs  that  D'Après'  failing  diredlions  mull  occa- 
fion  refpedting  the  fafety  of  a  paflage,  which,  in 
his  time,  was,  as  it  were,  only  fufpeéled  :  fuccefs 
has  proved  that  this  uneafinefs  was  not  well- 
founded. 

As  it  is  to  he  prefumed  that  the  lirait  Between 
Banca  and  BilLiton,  at  this  day  well  known 
by  the  repeated  trials  of  Englifh  and  French  navi- 
gators, will  henceforth  be  preferred,  on  account  of 
Its  advantages,  and  in  all  cafes,  to  the  long  and 
dangerous  Strait  of  Banca,  I  have  thought  that 
it  would  be  of  fome  utility  to  the  officers  in  our 
navy  and  merchant-fervice,  to  trace  minutely  the 
track  which  the  Solide  followed  in  pafling  through 
Caspar's  Strait  ^  to  report  the  obfervations  of 
latitude  which  were  made  in  the  paflage,  and  to 
indicate  the  principal  bearings  that  were  taken 

from 


Dec.  1791.]         MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


^37 


from  the  places  where,  in  order  to  flop  tide,  the 
fliip  was  forced  to  come  to  an  anchor,  Thefe 
details  will  be  comprehended  more  eafily,  if  the 
reader  will  follow  them  with  the  chart  before 
him*. 

On  the  20th,  at  half  paft  feven  o'clock  in  the 
evening,  the  Solide  got  under  way  from  the 
fécond  anchorage  which  fhe  had  been  obliged  to 
take  up  in  fight  of  the  northern  coaft  of  Banca; 
and  Captain  Marchand  could  not  but  congratu  - 
late himfelf  on  having  quitted  it  3  for  it  was  difco-* 
vered,  when  the  anchor  was  weighed,  that  the 
cable  was  ftranded  near  the  clinch;  and  it  was 
judged  that  if  the  Ihip  had  remained  longer  expofed 
to  the  violence  of  the  pitching  which  flie  had 
experienced  during  the  night,  the  cable  would  ine- 
vitably have  parted,  and  occafioned  the  lofs  of  a 
fécond  anchor. 

On  the  2 1  ft,  at  three  quarters  paft  fix  in  the 
evening,  Çaptain  Marchand  anchored  to  the 
north-weft  of  the  entrance  of  Caspar's  Strait,  in 
fourteen  fathoms,  over  a  bottom  of  mud,  gravel, 
and  broken  ftiells,  after  having  pafled  between 
four  breakers  fituated  to  the  north- weft  and  north 
by  weft  of  the  eaft  coaft  of  the  Ifland  of  Banc  a  5 
the  fartheft  is  fifteen  leagues  diftant  from  this  point, 
and  the  neareft,  twelve.  Point  Brisée  (Tong 
Ryott)  of  the  fame  ifland,  fituated  between  Point 

*  See  the  Charts,  Nos.  VII  and  VIII, 

P£SANT 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.        [Dec.  ïjgî» 


Pesant  (Ton g  Macooda)  and  the  East  Point, 
bore,  from  the  anchorage,  weft-fouth-wefl,  four  or 
five  leagues'  diftance. 

On  the  2  2d,  the  fhip  was  under  fail  at  fifty- 
minutes  pad  feven  in  the  morning,  and  (leered 
fouth-fouth-eaft  half  eaft  ;  the  foundings  were  con- 
ftantly  fourteen  fathoms,  with  a  bottom  of  fand 
and  gravel,  mixed  with  broken  lliells. 

At  forty  minutes  paft  nine  o'clock,  a  fmall 
ifland,  furrounded  by  breakers,  and  fituated  more 
to  the  offing  than  three  others,  lying  all  together 
on  a  line,  to  the  eaft  and  eaft  by  fouth  of  Point 
Brisée,  bore  weft-fouth-weft. 

From  that  moment,  Captain  Marchand  fteered 
fouth-eaft  by  fouth  i  and  the  lead  indicated  from 
thirteen  to  fourteen  fathoms,  with  the  fame  kind 
of  bottom  as  that  which  had  been  found  in  thé 
morning. 

At  eleven  o'clock,  Caspar  Ifland,  which  is 
fituated  nearly  under  the  fame  meridian  as  Middle 
Ifland,  and  eight  or  nine  leagues  north  of  its  north 
point,  was  perceived  from  the  maft-head  :  it  bore 
eaft  fouth.  A  quarter  of  an  hour  after,  the 
extremities  of  a  remarkable  mountain  on  the  Ifland 
of  Banca,  ferving  as  a  leading  mark  for  its  East 
point,  which  lies  to  the  eaft  9  or  10°  north,  and 
at  about  the  diftance  of  feven  leagues  from  this 
mountain,  bore  from  fouth  13°  weft  to  fouth  42® 
weft. 

At  noon,  the  east  point  of  Banca  bore  fouth 

43°  eaft. 


Dec.  1791-]      marchand's  voyage.  139 

43®  eaft,  and  the  middlç  of  Caspar  Ifland, 
dircélly  eaft:  io  this  fituation,  the  latitude  ob- 
ferved  was  2°  21';  and,  allowing  for  the  adbion  of 
the  currents,  it  was  eftimated  that  the  longitude  of 
the  ihip  might  be  104°  12^5  which  would  carry 
that  of  Caspar  Ifland,  the  diftance  from  which 
was  reckoned  twenty-eight  or  twenty-nine  miles, 
to  104°  40'. 

Captain  Marchand  fleered  eaft-fouth-eaft  half 
eaft  :  the  lead  continued  to  indicate  twelve,  four- 
teen, and  fixteen  fathoms  water,  till  one  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon  when  it  fliewed  twenty  fathoms^ 
over  a  bottom  of  fand  and  gravel  :  he  began  to 
perceive  the  firft  of  the  iflots  of  Rocher-Navire 
(Tree  Island)  fituated  between  the  east  point 
of  Banca  and  Caspar  Ifland, 

At  three  quarters  paft  two,  another  of  the  iflots 
of  Tree-Island,  the  fouthern  iflot,  bore,  one 
line  with  the  fouth  point  of  Caspar  Ifland  eaft 
23^  north  :  a  chain  of  rocks  was  difcovered  be- 
tween this  fécond  iflot  and  the  firft.  At  the  fame 
time,  a  fmall  iflot  was  difcovered  to  the  fouth- 
ward  of  the  east  point  of  Banca. 

Captain  Marchand  fteered  fouth-eaft  half  fouth 
till  three  o'clock  :  from  half  paft  one,  he  had  car- 
ried with  him  twenty  and  twenty-one  fathoms 
water,  with  the  fame  kind  of  bottom  as  in  the 
preceding  foundings. 

At  three  o'clock,  the  east  point  of  Banca 
bore  fouth  53°  wefts  Caspar  Ifland,  north  53'' 

eafti 


f  40  MARCHAND's  VOYAGE,  [Dec. 

eaft  J  and  the  firft-mentioned  iÛot  between  that 
ifland  and  the  east  point  of  the  great  ifland, 
north  39"^  eaft. 

He  then  fteered  fouth  by  eaft,  in  order  to  get 
vp  with  the  peninftila  of  S,£l*,  which,  with  the 
fouth-weft  point  of  Middle  Ifland,  forms  the 
narroweft  part  of  the  West  Passage,  Till  four 
o*clock,  the  foundings  were  ftill  twenty-two, 
twenty- three,  and  twenty-four  fathoms.  He  then 
difcovered  the  pcninfula  of  Sel,  and  the  iflands 
which  are  fituated  in  the  eaft  part  of  the  (Irait. 
The  EAST  point  of  Banca  bore  north  71°  weft; 
the  NORTH-EAST  extremity  of  the  peninfula  of 
Sel,  fouth  32**  weft. 

It  was  perceived  that  the  currents  carried  the 
fhip  to  the  eaftward  of  her  courfe  ;  and,  in  order 
to  counterbalance  their  effe6t,  and  draw  more  in 
with  the  peninfula  of  Sel,  by  entering  the  paflage. 
Captain  Marchand  fteered  fouth  by  weft.  At 
a  quarter  paft  four,  the  lead  announced  that  the 
water  was  flioaling;  there  were  no  more  than 
eighteen  and  feventeen  fathoms  ;  but  it  kept  at  this 
depth,  and  the  bottom  was  conftantly  gravel  and 
ftiells, 

*  Several  charts  or  plans  have  defignated  as  an  ifland  the  land 
which,  on  Caspar's  Plan,  bears  the  denomination  of  the  He  de 
Sel:  it  is  at  this  day  admitted  that  it  is  only  a  peninfula,  con- 
nedled  with  the  Ifland  of  Banca  by  a  flip  of  land  fo  low  as  not 
to  be  always  perceived  from  the  diftance  at  which  the  reef,  that 
terminates  this  land  to  the  eaftward,  requires  that  ftiips  fliould 
keep  from  ît. 


Dec.  1791.]      marchand's  voyage.  141 

As  the  currents  fet  rapidly  to  the  fouth-fouth- 
eaft,  at  five  o'clock.  Captain  Marchand  (leered 
fouth-fouth-vvcfl  half  fouth  :  the  foundings  were 
feventecn  fathoms,  with  the  fame  kind  of  bottom, 
till  fix  o'clock,  when  the  east  point  of  Banca 
bore  north  23°  30'  weft^  Caspar  Ifland,  north 
17°  eaft;  the  moil  eaftern  of  the  fmall  iflands 
fituated  to  the  northward  of  the  peninfula  of  Sel, 
fouth  81°  wefti  the  norh-east  point  of  the  pe- 
ninfula, fouth  77°  30'  weft,  and  its  south-east 
point,  fouth  15"^  weft. 

The  Solide  was  then  beginning  to  enter  the 
paflage  between  Middle  Ifland  and  the  peninfula 
of  Sel  :  Captain  Marchand  fteered  fouth  half 
caft,  under  cafy  fail,  till  forty  minutes  after  fix, 
when  he  came  to  an  anchor  in  feventeen  fathoms 
water,  over  a  bottom  of  fand  and  fine  gravely 
mixed  with  broken  ftiells. 

During  the  night,  the  wind  varied  from  north- 
weft  to  weft-north- weft,  the  currents  fet  to  the 
fouth-fouth-eaft,  and  then  to  the  fouth,  at  the  rate 
of  a  mile  and  a  half  or  two  miles  an  hour. 

From  the  anchorage,  the  hummock  on  the  east 
point  of  Banca  bore  north  21^  weft;  Caspar 
Ifland,  north  13°  30^  eafts  the  peninfula  of  Sel, 
from  fouth  22°  weft  to  weft  1°  fouth  ;  the  fouth- 
weft  extremity  of  Middle  Ifland  fouth  84°  caft; 
and  four  fmall  iflands  which  were  perceived  to  the 
fouth'Caft  and  fouth-fouth-eaft  of  this  Jaft-men- 
7  tioned 


i^^  marchand's  voyage.      [Dec.  i/f 

tîoned  ifland,  from  fouth  76®  eaft  to  fouth  56* 
caft. 

The  Solide  was  under  fail  at  three-quarters 
paft  fix  in  the  morning,  and  fteered  fouth  half 
eaft  ;  but,  a  little  time  after,  flie  bore  up  fouth- 
caft  by  fouth,  and  then  diredled  her  courfe  fouth- 
fouth-eaft  half-fouth.  On  the  eaft  coaft  of  the 
peninfula  of  Sel,  were  diftinguifhed  fome  breakers 
which  appear  to  run  a  mile  into  the  offing,  and  to 
extend  as  far  as  the  fouth  point  of  this  peninfula* 
The  depth  of  water  kept  increafing  from  feventeen 
to  twenty  fathoms,  with  a  bottom  of  fand  and 
gravel. 

At  twenty-two  minutes  paft  feven,  all  the  lands 
in  fight  were  fet  by  the  compafs,  in  order  that 
their  bearings  might  be  laid  down  on  the  plan. 
The  south-east  extremity  of  the  peninfula  of 
Sel  then  bore  fouth  54®  weft.  Captain  Mar- 
chand fteered  fouth,  and  the  foundings  increafed 
from  twenty  to  twenty-four  fathoms,  with  the  fame 
kind  of  bottom.  He  perceived  more  and  more 
the  fouth  part  of  the  Ifland  of  Banc  a,  and  was 
on  the  point  of  being  clear  of  the  Strait.  He 
croffed  fome  ftrong  ripplings  of  currents,  v/hich, 
at  a  diftance,  might  have  been  taken  for  chains  of 
breakers. 

At  twenty  minutes  paft  eight,  Middle  Ifland 
bore  from  north  ii""  30'  eaft  to  north  32°  eaft; 
and  the  middle  of  the  moft  eaftern  of  the  iflands 

fituated 


Dec.  1791.]         MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  I43 

fituatcd  to  the  northward  of  the  peninfula  of  Sel, 
in  one  with  the  north-east  point  of  the  latter^ 
bore  north  34°  30'  weft. 

From  this  point/ Captain  Marchand  fteered 
fouth  half  weft  :  the  water  gradually  fhoalcd  from 
twenty-four  to  twenty  fathoms^  with  the  fame  kind 
of  bottom. 

At  feven  minutes  paft  nine  o'clock,  the  iflots, 
feven  in  number,  which  lie  to  the  fouth-eaft  and 
fouth-eaft  by  eaft  of  Middle  Illand,  were  partly 
£hut  in,  the  one  by  the  other,  in  the  diredlion  of 
north  43°  eafti  and  the  south-east  point  of  the 
peninfula  of  Sel  bore  north  53°  30'  weft. 

Till  three  quarters  paft  nine.  Captain  Mar« 
CHAND  fteered  fouth-fouth-weft  half  fouth,  and 
the  foundings  were  regular  from  twenty  to  feven- 
teen  fathoms.  At  this  period,  the  extremities  of 
the  eaftern  coaft  of  the  peninfula  of  Sel  bore 
from  north  13°  30^  weft  to  north  44*^  30'  weft. 

The  Solide  was  then  clear  of  the  ftrrait,  and 
Captain  Marchand  hauled  his  wind,  at  the  fame 
time  carrying  a  prefs  of  fail  on  the  ftarboard  tack. 

At  half  paft  ten  o'clock,  the  ftiip  fell  ail  at  once 
from  feventeen  fathoms  into  nine,  with  a  bottom 
of  fand  and  gravel  :  this  fudden  diminution  of  the 
depth  of  water  obliged  Captain  Marchand  to 
navigate  with  precaution  :  he  conftantly  kept  the 
lead  going  ;  it  indicated  the  fame  foundings,  vary- 
ing only  from  eight  fathoms  to  nine,  till  half  paft 
J  eleven 


144 


marchand's  VOYAGE.       [Dec.  179^ 


eleven  o'clock,  and  from  ten  fathoms  to  eleven, 
till  noon. 

At  this  lafl-mentioned  period,  no  other  lands 
were  perceived  than  rhofe  to  the  fouthward  of  the 
Ifland  of  Banc  A,  which  extended  from  north-weft 
half  weft  to  north  north-weft  half  north.  The  ob- 
fervation  of  the  fun's  meridian  altitude  gave  3°  30' 
fouth  ladtude  ;  and,  in  allowing  for  the  elFeâ:  of 
the  currents,  which,  according  to  the  refult  of  the 
dead  reckoning  compared  with  that  of  the  obfer- 
vation,  had  carried  the  fhip  25  minutes  to  the 
fouthward,  in  twenty-four  hours,  and  which  was 
alfo  reckoned  to  have  carried  her  1 1  minutes  to 
the  eaftward,  it  was  concluded  that  the  longitude 
muft  be  104''  28'. 

The  detail  of  Captain  Marchandas  navigation 
in  Caspar's  Strait,  fuch  as  I  have  juft  reprefented 
it,  as  it  were,  hour  by  hour,  would  be  a  fuffi-^ 
cient  guide,  by  which  navigators  who  Ihould  wifh 
to  get  out  of  the  China  Sea  by  this  paflage, 
might  direél  their  courfe  with  fafety  ;  but,  in  order 
to  render  more  ufeful  the  remarks  that  were  made 
on  board  the  Solide,  Captain  Chanal,  aflbciat- 
ing  his  nautical  knowledge  with  the  talents  and 
zeal  of  the  Engineer  Le  Brun,  who  had  embarked 
in  the  fhip,  for  the  purpofe  of  going  from  Macao 
to  the  Ifle  of  France,  carefully  conftrufted  a  plan 
of  Caspar's  Strait  ;  he  fubjefted  it,  on  the  one 
hand,  to  the  latitude  that  was  obferved  on  the  22d 
in  the  parallel  of  Caspar  Ifland,  the  principal 

leadine: 


ï)eC.  1791.]         MARCHANDAS  VOYAGÉ*    ^  I45 

leading  mark  of  the  two  paffages  for  fliîps  coming 
from  the  northward,  and  that  which  was  obferved 
on  the  23d  on  coming  out  of  the  Strait,  the  fhip 
being  clear  of  all  land  5  and  on  the  other  hand, 
to  numerous  bearings  that  were  taken  in  the  dif- 
ferent fituations,,  under  fail  or  at  anchor  :  he  has 
accurately  laid  down  on  the  plan  all  the  found- 
ings that  were  taken,  from  the  moft  northern 
point  of  the  Ifland  of  Banc  a  to  the  parallel  of 
its  fouth  coaft  j  and  each  founding  has  been  placed 
at  the  point  of  that  track  which  the  bearings 
have  determined*. 

Captain  Chanal  was  not  able  to  extend  his 
work  beyond  Caspar's  pafifage  ;  and,  in  order  to 
complete  his  chart,  he  copied  from  that  of  D'Après 
the  EAST  paflage  between  Middle  Ifland  and  the 
Ifland  of  B1LLITON5  but  he  took  care  to  give 
notice  that  he  was  very  far  from  vouching  for  the 
correftnefs  of  this  borrowed  part  5  and  this  notice 
was  the  better  timed,  as  the  eaftern  part  of  the 
chart  publiflied  by  D'Après  as  unwarranted,  is 
defedtive  in  every  point,  and  as  the  wefl:  part  is 
fcarcely  more  correâ:  :  moft  affuredly  there  would 
be  lels  danger  for  a  fhip  to  attempt  the  paffage 

*  I  have  conceived  that  it  was  ufelefs  to  tranfcribe  all  the 
bearings  which  were  taken  on  board  the  Solide,  from  the  time 
that  (he  was  within  light  of  the  north  point  ©f  Bancu  till  after 
ihe  came  out  of  the  Strait  ;  I  have  laid  down  thofe  only  which 
appeared  to  me  ufeful  for  fixing  the  relative  politions  of  the  prin- 
cipal points. 


VOL,  II, 


from 


%iê  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.         [Dec.  ^791/ 

from  the  mere  infpeélion  of  the  land,  and  with  the 
precautions  that  are  employed  in  a  voyage  of  dif- 
covery,  than  to  truft  to  a  plan  fuch  as  that  of 
Caspar,  which  could  only  lead  the  navigator  into 
error. 

I  have  been  of  opinion  that  the  chart  which 
was  confbru6led  on  board  of  the  Solide  would 
become  ftill  more  ufeful,  if,  in  order  to  complete 
it,  ufe  were  made  of  the  work  of  the  Englifh^ 
who  have  given  us  feveral  tracks  in  the  Wcfl 
PaiTage,  and  others  in  the  Eafi:  PalTage,  marked 
on  authentic  plans,  fome  of  which  have  been  pub- 
lilhed  by  Alexander  Dalrymple  in  his  valuable 
colledion,  and  others  by  George  Robertson.  î 
have  combined  together  fix  different  plans,  two  of 
which  belong  to  the  French,  and  four  to  the  Eng* 
lifli  ;  and  I  think  I  may  venture  to  affirm,  that  the 
General  Chart  which  I  prefent  muft  have  all  the 
correctnefs  that  can  refult  from  the  information 
which  we  have,  till  this  day,  acquired  refpe6ling 
the  two  paffages  or  ftraits  that  prefent  themfelves 
to  Ihips  of  all  rates  between  the  Ifland  of  Banc  a 
ônd  that  of  Billiton:  I  refer  the  reader  to  the 
Notes  for  the  examination  and  analyfis  of  the 
materials  which  I  have  employed  in  the  conflruc- 
tion  of  this  new  chart*.     It  was  not  without 

concern 


*  See  Note  LXII.  This  note  contains  nota  mere  geographi- 
cal analyfis  and  the  difcuflion  of  the  materials  which  have  been 

employed 


Dec.  1791.]         MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  1^7 

concern  that  I  found  myfelf  under  the  necefTity  of 
criticifing  fome  of  the  plans  which  the  Englifli 
have  given  us  ;  but,  in  not  always  adopting  their 
opinions  and  their  plans,  we  cannot,  while  we  arc 
combating  them,  avoid  acknowledging  that  their 
bold  voyages  into  every  fea,  and  their  numerous 
labours  concerning  every  coaft,  have  long  fmce 
acquired  them  incontellable  claims  on  the  grati- 
tude of  all  navigators  :  and  if  criticifm  be  fevere 


employed  in  the  conftruftion  of  the  General  Chart  of  the  Strait 
let'ween  Banca  and  Bilïiton,  comprehending  Ga/par's  and  Cle- 
ments* Straits,  with  the  different  palTages  which  bothprefent  ;  it 
iikewife  contains  a  minute  defcription  of  the  two  ftraits,  as  well 
as  failing  diredions  for  the  navigation  of  the  two  palfages.  I 
have  laid  under  contribution  the  journals  of  feveral  Englifli  na- 
vigators, which  have  not  been  tranflated  into  our  language,  and 
with  whofe  names  even  our  navigators  were  not  acquainted  : 
their  obfervations  are  valuable,  and  deferved  to  be  colleded  ;  to 
thefe  I  have  added  thofe  of  our  Captains  Dordelin  and  Chanal, 
and  I  have  formed  of  the  whole  a  regular  work,  the  ground  of 
which  does  not  belong  to  me,  and  of  which  I  have  only  arranged 
the  parts,  in  order  to  connect  them  together  by  comparing  the 
reports  of  the  different  navigators,  ftrengthening  them  the  one  by 
the  other  when  they  agree,  and  oppofing  them  to  each  other  when 
they  are  at  variance.  This  work  may,  with  French  feamen^ 
fupply  the  place  of  a  great  number  of  foreign  journals  which 
would  afford  them,  befides,  only  ufelefs  repetitions.  I  lhali 
have  accomplifhed  my  objeft,  if,  in  prefenting  to  them  the 
Straits  Betnveen  Banca  and  Billiton  as  preferable  to  the  Strait 
of  Banca  as  well  for  fnips  returning  from  China  as  for  thofe 
going  thither,  I  have  furnifhed  them  with  the  information  ne- 
ceffary  for  navigating  there  with  fafety,  by  direding  their  courfe 
according  to  the  tracks  of  the  experienced  navigators  who  have 
opened  the  way^ 


14B 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.         [Dec.  l/glV^ 


when  the  queftion  is  to  examine  their  produdlions, 
it  is  becaufe  it  may  be  feared  that  their  weighty 
authority  will  too  eafily  accredit  errors. 

I  have  already  faid  that  D'Apres,  in  publifli- 
ing  the  Plan  of  Caspar's  Pafifage,  fuch  as  it  had 
been  communicated  to  him,  judged  that  it  was- 
prudent  to  diffuade   navigators  from  entangling 
themfelves  betv/een  the  Iflands  of  Banc  a  and 
BîLLiTONi  and  he  thought  it  incumbent  on  him 
to  advife  them  to  continue  to  take  their  route 
through  the  Strait  of  Banca  j  but  the  experiment 
of  the  Solide,  and  previoufly  that  of  the  Triton, 
the  Provence,  and  the  Sagittaire  under  the 
command  of  Dordelin,  that  of  the  Englifh  fhips, 
the  Macclesfield,  the  Sulivan,  the  Hawke, 
the  Ponsborne,  the  Warren   Hastings,  the 
Carnatic,  the  Vansittart,  theGLATTON,  and 
her  fleet  under  the  orders  of  John  Clements,  &Co 
rnufl  difpel  for  ever  the  fears  that  were  maintained, 
and  with  reafon,  by  the  impofing  authority  of  3 
learned  navigator,  who,  from  a  long  acquaintance 
with  the  fcas  of  Asia,  and  great  labours,  executed 
with  fuccefs,  for  improving  the  hydrography  and 
facilitating  the  navigation  of  them,  had  acquired 
the  right  of  fpeaking  as  a  mafter,  and  of  caufing 
himfelf  to  be  heard  with  attention.    No  doubt,  his 
opinion  would  have  changed,  and  he  would  have 
been  eager  to  amend  his  decifion,  had  he  been 
acquainted  with  tracks  which  have  been  followed 
only  fubfequently  to  his  work  and  his  death  :  he 

would 


Dec.  lygi'l       MARCH  AN  d's  voyage. 


would  have  judged  that  a  pafTage  on  a  flraight 
line  and  very  ftiort,  like  that  of  Caspar,  in 
which,  throughout,  if  the  wind  be  not  favourable 
to  the  courfe,  or  if  it  be  wiflied  to  pafs  the  night 
at  anchor,  a  fhip  may  come  to  in  a  good  depth 
of  water,  and  on  a  good  bottom,  deferves  every 
preference  to  a  long  and  winding  paflage,  fuch  as 
that  of  Banca,  the  entrance  of  which,  in  coming 
from  China,  it  is  difficult  to  reach  with  the  winds 
necefTary  for  engaging  in  it  ;  in  which  the  different 
diredlions  of  the  lands  require  different  winds  for 
pairing  from  one  branch  to  another  -,  and  which 
prefents,  on  leaving  it,  fhoals  and  over- falls  that 
obftrud  navigation  and  multiply  its  dangers. 

Clements'  Pafîage,  the  moft  eaftern  of  the  two 
ftraits  that  are  comprifed  between  the  Iflands  of 
Banca  and  Billiton,  affords,  in  many  refpeds, 
the  fame  advantages  as  that  of  Gaspar,  through 
which  Captain  Marchand  paffedj  but  fhips 
coming  from  ,  the  weftward,  will  prefer  the  latter 
of  the  two  ftraits  ;  and  thofe  coming  from  the 
eaftward  will  alfo  prefer  it,  if  the  wind  allow  of 
their  fo  doing;  for  Clements'  Strait,  in  the  nar- 
roweft  part,  is  ftrewn  with  iflots,  banks,  and  fhoak, 
which,  indeed,  are  moftly  vifible,  and  near  which 
is  found  a  good  bottom  fit  for  anchoring,  but 
which,  however,  may  occafion  fome  uneafmefs 
and  embarraffment  in  a  confined  pafîage,  where 
the  adion  of  the  currents  is  commonly  very  vio- 
kntj  and  where  navigators  muft  experience  fudden 

L  3  variations 


marchand's  voyage.       [Dec.  1791. 


variations  in  their  direction,  in  proportion  as  they 
prefent  themfelves  at  the  opening  of  the  numerous 
channels  which  the  banks  and  iflots  form  between 
them,  and  according  to  the  time  and  the  fetting  of 
the  tides.  But  Clements*  Paflage,  obftruded  as 
it  is,  appears  to  be  frequented  by  the  Engjifh  -,  and 
this  is  a  ftrong  reafon  for  believing  that  its  navi- 
gation is  not  dangerousj  fmce  they  have  the  choice 
between  the  two  paflages.  I  am  perfuaded,  how- 
ever, that  a  navigator  who  neither  has  ufed  the 
one  nor  the  other,  will,  on  an  infpedlion  of  the 
chart,  give  the  preference  to  Caspar's  Paflage  : 
but,  unqueftionably,  he  will  prefer  either  to  the 
Strait  of  Banc  a,  if,  in  coming  from  China,  he 
■wifh  to  arrive  more  expeditioufly  and  more  fafely 
in  the  Strait  of  Sun  da;  or  if,  coming  from 
Europe,  and  after  having  paiTed  this  laft-men- 
tioned  ftrait,  he  wifh  to  proceed  with  greater 
difpatch  to  the  coaft  of  China  whither  his  trade 
calls  him. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  îzjd.  Captain  Mar- 
chand, after  having  doubled  to  the  fouthward  all 
the  lands  which  form  Caspar's  and  Ci-ements' 
Straits,  and  wifliing  to  make  the  Ifland  of  Suma- 
tra, off  the  fmall  iflands  called  the  Two  Bro- 
thers, dire^led  his  courfe  towards  the  Strait  of 
S  UN  DA,  (landing  on  clofe  to  the  wind  which  blew 
from  the  north-weft  quarter.  During  the  whole 
day,  the  foundings  were  conftantly  ten  fathoms, 
at  firft  a  bottom  of  fine  gray  fand^  then  oozy  fand; 

and 


Dec.  1791.] 


marchand's  voyage. 


and  they  afterwards  increafed  to  twelve  fathoms. 
He  anchored  feveral  times  in  this  run,  when,  a 
calm  coming  on,  he  was  apprehenfive  that  the 
currents  might  drive  the  fliip  out  of  her  courfe. 

On  the  25th,  at  half  pad  twelve  o'clock  atnoon, 
he  got  fight  of  the  coafl:  of  Sumatra,  at  the 
diftance  of  fix  or  feven  leagues.  The  latitude 
obferved  at  noon,  had  been  4°  25^  fouth  ;  and  in 
comparing  it  with  that  by  the  dead  reckoning,  it 
was  difcovered,  that,  fince  noon  of  the  preceding 
day,  the  currents  had  carried  the  fliip  17  minutes 
or  near  fix  leagues  to  the  fouthward.  It  was 
reckoned  that  the  longitude  deduced  from  that  of 
Point  Pes  ant  on  the  north  fide  of  Banc  a,  was, 
at  the  moment  when  Supjatra  was  perceived^ 
103°  44',  and  the  latitude,  4°  26^  j  the  fhip  was 
then  in  twelve  fathoms  water. 

Captain  Marchand  paiTed  the  night  at  anchor^ 
and  weighed  at  half  paft  fix  o'clock  the  next  morn- 
ing. Half  an  hour  after  he  had  got  under  fail 
again,  he  difcerned  the  ifiands  called  Les  Deux 
Sœurs  which  he  had  intended  to  make;  and 
they  bore  fouth-weft  at  the  diftance  of  two  or  three 
leagues. 

He  concluded  from  the  latitude  of  5^  4'  ob- 
ferved at  noon,  and  from  the  bearing  that  was 
taken  at  the  fame  moment,  that  Les  Sœurs,  the 

*  Thefe  are  the  fame  ifiands  that  are  named  or  the  Englifh 
charts  the  Two  Brothers. 

L  4  moil 


1^2  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.        [DcC.  I79I. 

moft  fouthern  of  which  bore  fouth-weft,  diftant 
one  league,  are  fituated  in  latitude  5"^  6'  :  the  longi- 
tude of  the  fhip  was  then  103°  36'.  The  middle 
of  thefe  two  iflands  is  placed  on  the  chart;  No.  47, 
of  D'Après'  Neptune  Oriental^  in  latitude  and 
their  diftance  from  the  coaft  of  Sumatra,  which 
is  feven  leagues  on  this  chart,  appears  to  be  too 
confiderable  j  it  is  reckoned  that  it  might  be  re- 
duced to  five. 

From  within  fight  of  Les  Deux  Sœurs  till  he 
made  Point  St.  Nicholas  in  the  Ifland  of  Java, 
at  the  entrance  of  the  Strait  of  Sun  da,  calms  and 
contrary  winds  obliged  Captain  Marchand  to 
anchor  repeatedly  :  it  was  not  till  the  31ft,  in  the 
afternoon,  that  he  reached  the  entrance  of  the 
lirait  ;  but  the  wind  not  permitting  him  to  weather 
the  rock  fituated  in  the  middle  of  the  paflage  be- 
tween Middle  Ifland  and  Toe  a  or  Hog's  Point 
in  the  Ifland  of  Sumatra,  he  came  to  an  anchor 
off  PuLO  Remow,  or  Long  Ifland,  three-quarters 
of  a  mile  from  the  land,  in  thirty  fathoms  water, 
over  a  bottom  of  gravel  and  fliells.  In  this  fitua- 
tion.  Middle  Ifland  bore  from  fouth-eafl:  to 
fouth-fouth-eafl;  fouth  ;  the  peak  of  Cracatoa 
Ifland,  fouth-wefl:  half  weil  ;  the  G«  and  Toque, 
caft-fouth-eafl  -,  and  the  rock  in  the  middle  of 
-the  paflTage,  fouth  half  wefl:. 

On  the  ifl:  of  January  i  792,  at  half  paft  feven 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  fliip  fet  fail  for  the 
Ifle  of  France. 

For 


Jan.  i792'l       marchand's  voyage.  153 

For  a  few  days  the  contrariety  of  the  winds 
allowed  not  of  her  increafing  her  diftance  from  the 
vicinity  of  the  ftrait  ;  at  length,  on  the  afternoon 
of  the  4th,  Captain  Marchand  took  his  depar- 
ture from  Prince's  Ifland,  fituated  to  the  north- 
ward of  the  weft  point  of  Java,  at  the  mouth  of 
the  ftrait,  and,  according  to  aftronomical  obferva- 
tions,  in  6^36'  15"  fouth  latitude,  and  102^55 
eaft  longitude 

On  the  I  ith,  at  half  paft  four  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  the  latitude  of  the  fhip  deduced  by  the 
dead  reckoning  from  that  which  had  been  given 
by  the  obfervation  of  this  fame  day  at  noon,  was 
II®  37' 10'';  and  her  longitude  deduced,  by  ac- 
count, from  that  of  Prince's  Ifland,  95°  14  15''. 

At  that  moment,  a  low  land  was  perceived  to 
the  fouth-fouth-eaft,  at  the  diftance  of  fix  leagues. 

From  this  bearing,  the  land  in  fight  muft  have 
been  fituated  in  latitude  1 1^  54'',  and  longitude 
95^  21'  15'':  it  was  judged  that  it  could  be  no 
other  than  the  largeft  of  the  Iflands  of  Cocos,  that 
group  of  fmall  iflands  thrown  at  about  the  diftance 
of  a  hundred  and  fixty-five  leagues  to  the  fouth- 
weft  of  Flat  Point,  the  moft  fouthern  of  the  Ifland 
of  Sumatra  ;  but,  at  the  fame  time,  it  was  con- 
'  eluded  that  there  was  an  error  in  the  diftance  efti- 

*  Conno'îjfmce  des  Temfs  (Ephemeris.)    An  VIIL  de  l*Ere 
f  ran^aife  (j8oo.) 

mated 


$^4  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  [Jan.  179*, 

mated  by  the  eye,  from  the  fliip  to  thefe  iflands*, 
and  an  error  in  the  dead  reckoning  fmce  (he  had 
quitted  Prince's  Ifland  3  for,  according  to  adro- 
nomkal  obfervations,  the  large  Ifland  of  Cocos  is 
fituated  in  latitude  i  2^  1 1',  and  longitude  94"^  j'f. 

The 

*  It  might  aîfo  be  fuppofcd  that  there  was.  an  error  in  the 
latitude  obferved  on  board  the  fhip  ;  but  it  is  more  probable  that 
the  diftance  from  the  (hip  to  thefe  iflands  had  been  incorredîy 
cftimated  by  the  eye,  an  error  which  is  i^ery  common. 

f  This  is  the  longitude  which  is  to  be  found  in  the  Co^^ 
itaijance  des  Temps  QÎ  tlfc  year  VIIL  of  the  French  era  (1800) 
and  the  preceding  years  :  it  is  there  indicated  as  deduced  from 
îunar  obfervations  made  at  fea  ;  and  is  prefented  as  the  fituation 
of  the  middle  of  the  largeji  of  the  tjlmids. 

G.  Rohertfon  gives  us,  refpeding  thefe  Iflands  of  Cocos^  a  detail 
which  deferves  to  be  mentioned  :  it  is  engraved  in  Englifh  at  the 
bottom  of  his  Chart  of  the  China  Sea» 

Memorandum  for  Jhips  leading  Java  Head  (the  moft  weftern 
part  of  the  Ifland  of  Java)  for  Europe. 

"  The  true  fituation  of  the  Kell'mg  or  Cocos  Iflands,  deter, 

mmed  by  an  exadl  Arnold' %  box-chronometer,  in  a  fhort  run 

from  fa-va  Head,  and  corroborated  by  three  fets  of  lunar  ob- 

fervations,  objefts  eaft  and  well. 

"  The  northernmoft  is  a  fingle  low  ifland,  in  latitude  11°  50' 
fouth,  longitude  8°  i'  weft  of  Ja<vn  Head,  or  97°  8' eaft  from 
Greeitnjokh  {94°  47 ''45^^  eaft  from  Farts)-,  and  it  lies  due 
**  north  from  the  moft  weftern  of  the  clufter  of  iflands,  diftant 
"  14  miles.  Between  them  is  a  fair  paflage,  which  in  the  Ge-^ 
neral  Coote,  Captain  Baldivln,  we  paflJed  through. 

The  fouthernmoft  are  a  circular  clufter  of  low  iflands,  whofe 
**  latitude  is  from  i  z'^  4'  to  1 2°  23'  fouth.  Their  eaftern  extreme 
7'^  50'  weft  of  fa<va  Heady  97^  19'  eaft  from  Gree7i%v:ch 
(94° 58' 45''  eaft  from  Greenivich)  ;  and  their  weftern  extreme 
"  under  the  meridian  of  the  moft  northern  ifland,"  that  is  to 
"  fay,  97°  8'  from  Green^wich  (04°  47'  45"  from  Paris,) 


<^  la 


Jan.  1792 •]  MARCHAND'S  VOYAGE.  i^/j 

The  error  of  nearly  1 7  minutes  in  the  latitude  which 
the  bearing,  deduced  from  the  latitude  of  the  ïhip, 
gave,  to  the  Ifland  of  Cocos,  proves  that  the  dif- 
tance  eftimated  from  the  veflel  to  that  ifland  was 
not  fufEciently  great  ;  and  the  difference  of  1°  i 
15''  in  the  longitude,^  proved  that,  from  Prince's 
Ifland,  whofe  longitude  is  likewife  determined  hy 
obfervation,  the  calculation  of  the  run  made  by 
the  fliip,  in  the  fpace  of  feven  days,  was  in  error 
all  this  quantity,  which  flie  had  been  carried  to 
the  weftward  by  the  movement  of  the  waters, 
without  the  ordinary  methods  of  navigation  hav- 
ing been  able  to  furniih  any  means  of  eflimating 
its  efFeél, 


In  ranging  along  the  north  part  of  the  clufter  of  iflandsj 
*'  faw  no  danger  detached  from  thenij  being  fteep-to  clofe  into 

the  Ihore,  which  is  a  beautiful  white  beach  appearing  like 

fand,  but  which  I  believe  is  white  coral. 

"  A  reef  runs  out  from  the  north-weft  corner  of  thefe  iflands 

a  Ihort  quarter  of  a  mile,  and  thcj  may  be  feen  in  clear  wea^ 

ther,  from  an  Indiaman's  deck,  five  leagues." 

Signed,  G.  R»  f  George  Robert/on. J 

Rohertfon,  in  his  Table  of  Pofitions  (page  79  of  his  Memoir) 
gives  the  longitude  of  Ja^ua  Head  105°  9'eaft  of  Green'wkhi 
it  is  only  105°  5'  according  to  the  obfervations  made  in  Cooi^s 
Third  Voyage  {page  351  of  the  Original  Afironomlcal  Obfer^ 
watlom^  &c.)  :  and  if  we  adopt  this  latter  determination,  the 
longitudes  of  the  Cocqs  Iflands  muft  be  diminilhed  by  4  minutes. 

N.  E.  I'here  is  an  error  of  the  prefs  in  the  Colledion  of 
Obfervations,  which  I  have  juft  quoted.  We  there  read,  'Janja 
the  mofi  eailerly  Rolnt  of  the  Straits  of  Sunda  ;  read  the  mofi 
wefteriy  Pû/«/,  &c. 


Fcom 


Îj6  MARCH  AN        VOYAGE.  [Jan.  I792, 

From  the  Ifland  of  Cocos,  the  Solide  direded 
htr  courfe  weft- fouth- weft,  in  order  to  get  into 
the  parallel  of  Rodrigue  Ifland,  from  which  Cap- 
tain Marchand  wiftied  to  take  a  frefti  departure 
before  he  ftood  for  the  Ifle  of  France. 

On  the  1 6th,  a  little  before  nine  o'clock  in  the 
fnorning,  in  the  latitude  of  15*^  47'  15''  fouth,  the 
Hi^an  between  the  refults  of  feveral  obfervations 
of  diftances  of  the  fun  and  moon,  gave  for  the 
longitude  of  the  ftiip  85®  1 5"  ;  that  which  was  de- 
duced, at  the  fame  inftant,  from  the  dead  reckon- 
ing fince  the  departure  from  Prince's  Ifland,  was 
S6°45';  thus,  in  the  fpace  of  twelve  days,  the 
fum  of  the  errors  of  the  reckoning  was  a  degree 
and  a  half,  which  the  fliip  had  advanced  more  to 
the  weftward  than  was  fuppofed.  And  as,  when 
She  was  in  fight  of  the  Ifland  of  Cocos,  on  the 
Î  ith,  the  error  in  the  fame  dire61:ion  was  only  1°  i  8^ 
it  might  thence  be  inferred  that,  from  the  i  ith  to 
the  16th,  the  error  had  increafed  12  minutes  ^  but 
this  inference  would  imply,  that  we  grant  to  the 
refuît  of  the  lunar  obfervations  fo  great  a  degree  of 
accuracy  that  they  may  be  employed  with  fafety 
in  correéling  fmall  errors.  What  we  may  folely 
conclude,  is  that,  from  the  4th,  when  the  fliip 
took  her  departure  from  Prince's  Ifland,  to  the 
ï6th,  the  day  of  the  laft  lunar  obfervations,  flie 
was  conftantly  carried  to  the  weftward  by  the  efl^eét 
of  the  currents  -,  and  that  the  quantity  of  this  un- 
perceived  progref^i  wjis^  about  a  degree  and  a  half 

in 


Jan.  1792.]         MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  î,57 

in  the  interval  of  twelve  days,  or  about  eight  miles 
in  twenty-four  hours. 

On  the  19th,  at  eight  o*clock  the  morning,  in 
A  8*^  37^  20''  latitude  fouth,  the  mean  refult  of  four 
fets  of  lunar  obfervations  fixed  the  longitude  of 
the  fhip  at  77°  59';  that  which  was  indicated  by 
the  dead  reckoning,  brought  forward  from  the 
obfervation  of  the  i6th,  was  78°  17":  thus  the 
error  in  the  interval  had  been  i  8  minutes,  or  fix 
miles  in  twenty-four  hours,  in  the  fame  diredlioa 
as  the  preceding  ones. 

Other  lunar  obfervations,  made  on  the  27th, 
at  eleven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  in  latitude  19"^  40', 
gave  62^  29'  for  the  longitude;  that  which  was 
deduced  from  the  dead  reckoning,  brought  forward 
from  the  obfervation  of  the  1 9th,  was  63°  2  i'  :  the 
error  of  the  reckoning  had  therefore  been,  in  the 
fpace  of  eight  days,  52  minutes,  or  fix  miles  and  a 
half  in  twenty-four  hours,  and  fl:ill  in  the  fame 
diredion,  the  currents  had  conftantly  fet  the  fhip 
to  the  weftward,  or  ahead  of  the  reckoning. 

From  the  refult  of  the  obfervations  of  that  day^ 
Captain  Marchand  reckoned,  at  fix  o'clock  in 
the  evening,  that  he  could  not  be  more  than  feven- 
teen  or  eighteen  leagues  from  Rodrigue  Ifland, 
when  it  was  perceived  as  far  as  it  could  be  feen, 
that  is,  at  the  di (lance  of  thirteen  or  fourteen 
leagues:  thus  the  error  of  the  fhip's  fituation  by 
account,  with  refpedl  to  her  true  fituation,  was  not 
more  than  three  or  four  leagues  in  a  run  of  upwards 


l^S  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  [Jail.  1792. 

of  eight  hundred  ;  but  it  would  have  been  about 
fifty-leven  leagues  aftern^  that  is  to  fay,  he  would 
have  met  with  Rodrigue  Ifland  fifty-feven  leagues 
iboner  than  was  expedled,  had  he  employed,  for 
regulating  his  courfe,  only  the  arbitrary  and  uncer- 
tain methods  of  the  dead  reckoning  :  for,  in  re- 
capitulating the  partial  differences,  arifmg,  at  va- 
rious periods,  between  the  refults  of  the  dead 
reckoning  and  thofe  of  the  obfervations,  we  find 
that  the  fhip  had  been  carried  2°  40^  or  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  ahead  of  the  account, 
and  one  hundred  and  fixty  in  adding  thereto  the 
fmall  error  difcovered  on  makio.^  the  land. 

Hence  it  therefore  refults,  that  the  unperceived 
progrefs  of  the  fhip  to  the  weilward,  had  been 
(on  an  average)  7!  miles  in  twenty- four  hours. 
This  may  be  attributed  to  the  effed  of  the  currents, 
which  may  have  had  a  confiant  diredion  ;  but 
might  it  not  alfo  be  confidered  as  the  effed  of 
a  general  movement  of  the  waters  from  eafl  to 
wefl,  which  is  moft  commonly  eftimated,  in  an 
open  fea,  between  the  tropics,  at  the  rate  of  eight 
or  nine  miles  for  each  diurnal  revolution  of  the 
earth  ? 

1  have  thought  it  incumbent  on  me  not  to 
throw  into  the  Notes  the  refuit  of  the  obfervations 
"which  were  made  in  the  run  from  Macao  to 
Prince's  Ifland  (Strait  of  Sunda),  and  from  the 
Strait  to  Rodrigue  Ifland:  it  is  well  known  that 
the  currents  have  a  confiderable  influence  in  the 

Indian 


J^n.  1792.]       marchand's  voyage.  159 

Indian  Seas  :  their  diredlon,  which  varies  accord-. 
ing  to  the  feafons,  fometimes  in  the  fame  feafoDj 
requires  all  the  attention  of  the  navigator,  becaufc 
their  adion  has  a  material  effed  on  the  Ihip's 
courfe,  and  may  give  rife  to  fatal  errors,  în  pre-- 
fenting  to  feamen  thefe  runs  with  minutenefs^  1 
willied  to  enable  them  to  appreciate  the  utiUty  of 
the  lunar  obfervations  for  the  fafety  of  navigation 
and  the  improvement  of  hydrography  j  the  exam- 
ple here  (lands  by  the  fide  of  the  precept ,  and  if 
they  perfift  iii  rejecting  evidence^  if  they  repel 
light,  I  fhall  not  at  leaft  have  to  reproach  myfelf 
"with  not  having  made  it  fhine  to  their  eyes. 

Captain  Marchand,  after  having  made  Ro- 
drigue liland,  direded  his  courfe  towards  the  lile 
of  Frances  and,  on  the  30th  of  January,  the 
Solide  anchored  in  the  principal  port  in  the  ifland 
fituated  on  the  north-west  coaft. 

The  run  from  Prince's  Ifland  had  lafted  twenty- 
fix  days,  and  the^mean  progrefs  of  the  ûïip  had 
been  thirty- five  leagues  one-third  in  twenty- four 
hours. 

The  Ihip  had  kept  the  fea  for  thirteen  months 
and  a  half  5  and,  with  the  exception  of  thirty  days 
fpent  at  anchor  at  La  Pray  a.  La  Madre  de 
Dios, Tchinkitanay,  and  Macao,  flie  had  been 
conftantly  under  fail.  The  health  of  the  crew,  did 
not  appear  to  be  impaired  by  the  fatigues  of  this 
long  voyage  j  but,  in  order  to  return  to  the  port 
-:i  Europe  from  which  the  ihip  had  been  dif- 
I  patched 


t€o  MARCH  AN  r)*s  VOYAGE.       [Jan*  1792* 

patched,  there  remained  three  or  four  thoufand 
leagues  for  her  to  run,  which  might  occupy  four 
months:  the  relaxation  neceflary  for  preventing 
diforders,  the  repairs  to  be  made  to  the  fliip,  the 
examination  and  the  renewal  of  the  provifions,  the 
purchafe,  the  taking  on  board,  and  the  ftowage  of 
merchandifej  in  fhort,  all  the  preparatives  of  a 
long  voyage  required  that  Captain  Marchand 
fliould  Ipend  two  months  and  a  half  at  the  Ifle 
of  France. 


CHAPTER 


April  1792.]       marchand's  voyage. 


161 


CHAPTER  IX, 

Departure  from  the  Ifle  of  France. — The  Solide 
touchés  at  the  Ifle  of  Bourbon,  now  called  the  Ifle 
of  Réunion,  in  order  to  load  there  with  coffee. — ■ 
Run  from  that  ifland  to  St.  Helena. — Stay  at  this 
latter  ifland, — Directions  for  anchoring  in  its  road. — 
Various  confiderations  reffe5fing  St,  Helena. — Ad- 
vantages of  its  ftuation^  and  of  that  of  Gihr altar ^  to 
the  nation  which  occupies  thofe  two  rocks. — Naviga- 
tion from  St,  Helena  to  the  Strait  ^/Gibraltar. — 
l^he  Solide  returns  to  Toulon. — On  the  length  of 
voyages  round  the  JVorld-^  and  the  means  zvhich  might  , 
fhorten  it. — Praifes  due  to  the  owners  of  the  fhip^ 
to  the  Captain^  and  to  the  officers. — Utility  of  the 
7iew  methods  for  determining  at  fea  the  pofition  of  the  ^ 
ftjip. 

TT  was  on  the  i8th  of  April  that  the  Solide  got 
un4er  way  from  Port  Nord-ouest  in  the 
Ifle  of  France,  in  order  to  return  to  Europe, 
calling  at  the  Ifle  of  Bou.rbon,  now  denominated 
the  Ifle  of  Réunion,  where  fl"ie  was  to  take  in  a 
cargo  of  coffee. 

On  the  20th,  Captain  Marchand  came  to  at 
the  anchorage  of  St.  Denis;  and,  on  the  evening 
of  the  2 1  ft,  he  again  got  under  fail,  and  direded 
his  courfe  to  make  the  coaft  of  Africa,  and 
double  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 

VOL,  II.  M  This,  • 


m'archand's  voyage.      [April  1792. 

This  run,  like  that  which  preceded  it,  prefents, 
concerning  the  elfe6b  of  the  currents  and  the  errors 
of  the  reckoning,  feveral  obfervations,  which,  not- 
withflanding  the  little  intereO:  that  details  of  this 
fort  can  afford  to  the  generality  of  readers,  have 
appeared  to  me  to  deferve,  for  the  inftru6lion  of 
feamen  and  the  improvement  of  navigation,  to  be 
mentioned  at  fome  length,  referring  to  myfelf  to 
extend,  in  the  Notes,  fuch  of  thefe  obfervations  as 
may  appear  neceflary. 

On  the  28th,  the  longitude  of  the  fhip  deduced 
from  lunar  obfervations,  and  reduced  to  noon,  was, 
by  a  mean  between  four  fets,  42°  44'  :  that  which 
was  given  by  the,  dead  reckoning,  deduced  from 
the  Iile  of  Réunion,  whole  geographical  pofition 
is  determined  by  aftronomical  obfervations  ^,  was 
44°  51':  thus,  in  the  fpace  of  feven  days,  the  fliip 
had  been  carried  to  the  weft  ward,  or  ahead  of  her 
apparent  run,  2°  y\  or  thirty- eight  leagues  and 
a  half f. 

The  daily  errors  in  the  direélion  of  the  latitude, 
afcertained  by  obfervation,  were  no  lefs  remarka- 
ble :  from  the  24th  to  the  25th,  the  fhip  had  been 
carried  34  minutes,  or  eleven  leagues  and  two 
thirds,  to  the  fouthward  ;  and  during  the  laft  two 
^days,  file  had  been  carried  9  and.  12  minutes  to  the 
northward. 

*  Longitude  of  6^/.  Deftis  53°  10'  o"  eaft.    Conno'ijfance  d^i 
^Teinps,  ^«  VIII. 
+      Note  LXIII. 

The" 


April  1792.]       marchand's  voyage.  163 

The  obfervations  of  the  next  day,  the  29th,  in 
like  manner  reduced  to  noon,  fliewed  that,  in  the 
laft  twenty-four  hours,  the  apparent  progrefs  of 
the  fhip  towards  the  weft,  had  been  again  increafed 
by  the  efFedl  of  the  currents,  24  minutes  or  about 
fix  leagues  ;  and  the  obfervation  of  latitude  indi- 
cated that  fhe  had  been  carried  to  the  northward 
7  minutes,  or  two  leagues  one-third  *. 

She  was  again  carried  13  minutes  towards  the 
north,  from  the  29th  to  the  30th;  3  minutes  in 
the  fame  direction  frôm  the  30th  of  April  to  the 
ift  of  May,  and  11  minutes  from  the  lil  to  the 
2d  ;  but  from  the  2d  to  the  3d,  Ihe  was  carried 
33  minutes  or  eleven  leagues  to  the  fouthward. 

For  fome  days,  the  weather  did  not  allow  of 
pbfervations  being  made  for  the  longitude  ;  and  on 
the  8th  of  May,  at  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
our  navigators  had  the  firft  fight  of  the  coaft  of 
Africa  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Land  of  Natal  off 
Lagoa  Bay  :  they  could  not  have  expeded  to  fee 
it  fo  foon. 

The  bearings  of  the  land,  whofe  pofition  in 
longitude,  fubjeded  to  that  of  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  cannot  be  defective,  fhewed,  on  the  9th, 
at  noon,  that,  fince  the  obfervations  of  the  29th, 
in  the  fpace  of  ten  days,  the  fhip  had  again  been 
carried  i  degree  to  the  weftward,  ahead  of  her  ap- 
parent progrefs  towards  this  coaft  f. 

*  See  Note  LXIV,  f  See  Note  LXV, 

M  ^  Thus 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  [April  I792. 

Thus  then,  in  the  fpace  of  nineteen  days,  from 
the  time  of  the  Solide's  departure  being  taken 
from  the  Ifle  of  Reunion  to  that  of  her  making 
the  land  on  the  coaft  of  Africa,  there  is  a  fum 
of  errors  in  longitude,  of  more  than  three  degrees 
and  a  half,  or  upwards  of  fixty  leagues,  which 
Captain  Marchand  would  have  reckoned  him- 
felf  diftant  from  the  coaft  when  he  got  fight  of  it, 
if  the  obfervations  made  fince  the  departure  had 
not  correded  this  error  by  2^  30',  and  reduced 
it  to  that  of  I  degree,  which  had  taken  place  in 
the  interval  between  the  laft  day  of  obfervation, 
and  that  of  making  the  land. 

The  errors  in  the  latitude  were  confiderable  du- 
ring the  latter  days  :  from  the  2d  to  the  3d,  33 
minutes  or  thirty- three  miles  ;  from  the  4th  to  the 
5  th,  fix  teen  -,  from  the  5th  to  the  6  th,  three  ; 
from  the  6th  to  the  7th,  four;  from  the  7th  to  the 
9th,  forty.  The  fum  of  thefe  errors,  in  feven 
days,*  is  40',  or  one  hundred  miles,  which  the 
ftiip  had  been  carried  to  the  fouthward  beyond  the 
quantity  indicated  by  the  dead  reckoning  3  this  is 
at  the  rate  of  fourteen  miles  two-thirds  in  twenty- 
four  hours  :  but  the  differences  towards  that  fide 
cannot  be  a  matter  of  aftonifhment.  The  Ihip  had 
failed,  in  that  fpace  of  time,  at  the  opening  of  the 
Mozambique  Strait;  and  the  direélion  of  this 
ftrait,  which  is  nearly  north-north-eaft  and  fouth? 
fouth-weft,  muft  determine  that  of  aftrong  current 
the  cffeft  of  which  is  felt  at  a  diftance,  and  carries 

vefiels 


May  179s.]       marchand's  voyage. 


vefTels  to  the  fouthward,  declining  towards  the  weft, 
according  to  the  diredipn  of  the  ftrait. 

On  the  9th,  at  noon,  the  latitude  obferved  was 
33^  33  ^  ^"^^  according  to  the  bearing  of  the  land, 
the  longitude  muft  have  been  25°  57'. 

At  two  o'clock,  the  change  of  the  water  an- 
nounced that  ground  would  be  reached  in  founding  : 
at  a  quarter  paft  three,  foundings  were  ftruck  in 
fcventy  five  fathoms,  over  a  bottom  of  gravel  and 
rotten  ftiells. 

The  coaft,  at  that  moment,  extended  from  north- 
caft  by  north  a*  north  to  weft  4^  north  ;  and  the 
fliip's  diftance  from  it  might  be  five  leagues. 

A  dreadful  ftorm  came  on  in  the  night  of  the  9th, 
and  lafted  till  the  morning  of  the  \  2th.  The  vio- 
lence of  the  wând,  which  varied  from  weft-north- 
weft  to  weft,  joined  to  the  extreme  agication  of 
an  overgrown  fea,  would  have  expofed  to  the 
greateft  dangers  a  ftiip  that  had  not  poffeffed  the 
excellent  qualities  of  the  Solide.  She  was  then 
diredling  her  courfe  to  double  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope  ;  and  it  feemed  that  the  confpired  elements 
were,  in  fome  meafure,  difpofed  to  juftify  the  old 
name  of  Stormy  Cape,  which  the  Portuguefe 
navigators,  who  firft  attempted  to  double  it,  had 
impofed  on  that  famous  promontory.  This  was 
the  feafon  when  the  winter  begins  at  the  Cape  ; 
and  it  is  well  known  that  the  Dutch  did  not  fufFer 
their  Ihips  to  remain  in  Table  Bay  beyond  the 
1 5th  of  May  :  all  their  velTels  were  bound  .  to  re- 

M  3  pair, 


i66 


marchand's  voyage.       [May  179s. 


pair,  at  that  period,  to  False  Bay,  where  they  are 
completely  fheltered  from  the  north- weft  winds^ 
which  blow  with  violence,  often  with  fury,  during 
the  whole  winter.  The  Solide  kept  conftantly 
lying  to  during  the  gale.  Captain  Chanal  ob- 
ferves,  on  this  occafion,  that  when  a  Ihip  joins 
llrength  to  other  qualities,  to  lie  to  appears  to 
him  preferable  to  fcudding,  according  to  the  ex- 
preflion  of  the  Englifli  feamen  ;  he  reckons  that 
the  ntuation  of  a  (hip  is  rendered  lefs  critical,  by 
iying  to  :  whereas  in  apparently  avoiding  danger, 
by  running  before  the  wind  and  fea,  a  vefTel  iâ 
no  lefs  expofed  to  the  ravages  of  the  former,  and 
ilie  runs  the  rifk  of  being  overtaken  and  pooped 
by  the  waves  which  prefs  and  precipitate  them- 
felves  againft  her  ftern. 

The  weather,  which  cleared  up  on  the  morning 
of  the  1 2th,  admitted  of  the  land  being  perceived 
to  the  northward  ;  and  it  was  rather  high  :  it  was 
judged  to  be  Mountain  Cape,  fituated  a  hundred 
leagues  to  the  eaft  by  north  of  Cape  Aiguillas. 

A  calm,  which  had  fucceeded  the  gale,  at  a 
quarter  paft  nine  o'clock,  allowed  alfo  of  taking 
lunar  obfervations,  the  mean  refult  of  which  redu- 
ced to  noon,  gave  21°  49'  for  the  longitude,  and 
confirmed  a  great  error  in  the  reckoning,  an  error 
which  the  fight  of  the  land  had  already  indicated  : 
according  to  the  dead  reckoning,  deduced  from 
the  refult  of  the  obfervations  of  the  8th,  the  longi- 
tude of  the  fhip  muft  have  been  24°  48'  i  thus, 

in 


May  1792.  J         MARCH  AN  d's  VOYAGE. 


in  the  fhort  fpace  of  four  days,  the  error  aftern 
was  2°  59%  or  forty-nine  leagues,  which  the  fliip 
had  been  carried  to  the  weftward  beyond  what  the 
reckoning  had  implied. 

If  we  recapitulate  all  the  errors  in  the  fame 
diredlion  fince  the  departure  from  the  Ifle  of 
Réunion,  on  the  21ft  of  April  in  the  evening,  we 
ihall  find  that  the  fum  of  thefe  errors,  in  the 
fpace  of  twenty  days  and  a  half,  was  6°  30',  or 
about  one  hundred  and  twelve  leagues  *.  When 
we  refled  that  navigation  by  account  or  dead  reckon- 
ings is  ftill  fubjed,  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  to  fimilar  miftakes,  we  ceafe  to  be  afto- 
nifhed  that  the  geographical  pofitions,  given,  after 
paflages  of  feveral  months,  by  the  firft  navigators 
of  the  Great  Ocean,  to  iflands  of  which  they 
made  the  difcovery,  have  been  fomctimes  five  or 
fiX  hundred  leagues  in  error.  But  ought  we  not 
at  the  fame  time,  through  the  impulfe  of  juft  gra- 
titude, to  pay  a  well-merited  homage  to  the  arts 
and  fciences,  which,  by  withdrawing  us  from  the 
empire  of  arbitrary  opinion,  have  furnifhed  us  with 
fure  means  of  guarding  againft  the  dreadful  efFedls 
of  an  uncertainty,  to  which  the  moft  fkilful  feaman 
in  vain  oppofed  his  knowledge  and  long  expe- 
rience. 

*  The  Reader  may  convince  himfelf  of  this,  by  cafting  up  the 
fum  of  the  errors  aftern,  from  the  21ft  of  April  to  the  12th  of 
May.  {See  at  the  end  of  the  Notes,  the  Table  of  the  efeél 
of  the  currents,) 

M  4  The 


i68 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.         [May  179a; 


The  errors  in  the  latitude  had,  within  thefe  few 
days,  been  no  lefs  remarkable  than  thofe  in  the 
longitude  :  the  obfervations  fhewed  that,  from  the 
9th  to  the  iith,  the  fhip  had  been  carried  to  the 
fouthward,  i"^  ii'  ;  and  from  the  nth  to  the  12th, 
32  minutes;  thus  in  the  fpace  of  three  days,  the 
fum  of  the  errors  in  this  diredion  was  1^  43^,  or 
thirty-four  leagues  one-third. 

If  we  combine  together  the  error  of  the  longi- 
tude, which  was  forty  nine  leagues,  during  thefe 
lafl  days,  with  that  of  the  latitude,  thirty-^four 
leagues  one-third,  it  will  be  found  that,  in  the 
fpace  of  three  days,  the  fhip,  driven  out  of  her 
apparent  courfe  by  the  movement  of  the  waters, 
was  carried  fixty  leagues  to  the  weft  3  5°  fouth  : 
this  is  at  the  rate  of  twenty  marine  leagues  in 
twenty-four  hours,  or  upwards  of  a  common  league 
an  hour  *  -,  while,  on  the  contrary,  owing  to  the 
natural  confequence  of  the  dire61:ion,  and  the  vio- 
lence of  the  wind  which  blew  from  the  weft,  vary- 
ing towards  the  north,  the  fhip,  lying  to,  ought 
to  have  been  drifted  towards  the  eaft-fouth-eaft 
and  fouth-caft.    We  are  therefore  juftified  in  con- 
cluding that,  but  for  the  refiftance  which  the  di- 
re6lion  of  the  wind  and  waves  muft  have  oppofed 
to  the  aclion  of  the  current,  the  efFeâ:  of  the  latter 
would  have  been  ftill  greater  ;  and  it  is,  no  doubt, 
to  the  ftruggle  of  thefe  oppofite  powers,  that  muft 


*  See  Note  LXVI. 


be 


Ma^^  1792']       marcï-îand's  voyage. 


169 


be  attributed  the  exceffive  agitation  of  the  fea 
during  the  gale  of  wind.  We  may  prefent,  in 
fupport  of  this  conje6ture,  what  Captain  Chanal 
mentions  in  his  journal  :  that  on  his  return  from 
India  in  1789,  on  board  the  Tufcan  fhip,  il 
Gran  Duca  di  Toscana,  he  experienced  in  the 
fame  latitude^  an  efFed  of  the  fame  current,  ft  ill 
much  more  confiderable  than  that  of  twenty  leagues 
a  day,  fince,  in  the  fpace  of  twenty-one  hours, 
the  fhip  was  carried  thirty-five  leagues  to  the 
fouth-weft  ;f  fouth.  The  current  was  no  longer 
felt  when  they  had  paffed  CapeTALHADo,  fituated 
to  the  we  ft -fouth -weft  of  Muscle  Bay.  The 
Tufcan  fhip  had  failed  at  the  fame  diftance  from 
land,  twelve,  fifteen,  and  twenty  leagues,  at  which 
Captain  Marchand  had  kept. 

On  the  13th,'  at  noon,  our  navigators  were  af- 
fured  by  the  obfervation  of  the  ftin's  meridian  alti- 
tude, that  the  effedt  of  the  current  which,  on 
coming  out  of  theMosAMBiQUE  Strait,  ought  to 
fet  to  the  fouth  ward,  had  no  longer  a6led  on  the 
ftiip,  fmce,  being  more  advanced  towards  the  weft, 
fhe  had  been  ftieltered  by  the  fouthern  lands  of 
Africa  ;  for,  on  comparing  the  latitude  obferved 
with  that  which  had  been  deduced  from  the  dead 
reckoning,  it  was  found  that  the  ftiip,  very  far 
from  having  been  carried  to  thé  fouthward,  had, 
on  the  contrary,  been  drifted  17  minutes,  or  five 
leagues  and  two-thirds,  to  the  northward  ;  this 
jnight  be  attributed  to  a  ftrong  fwell  from  the 


ij9  marchand's  voyage.       [May  179s, 

fouth-weflj  which  mufi:  have  driven  her  towards 
that  fide.  Some  lunar  obfervations,  taken  at  fifty 
minutes  after  ten  in  the  morning  of  this  fame  day, 
had  likewiiè  proved  that,  in  the  interval  between 
the  i2ch  and  the  13th,  the  currents  had  ceafed  to 
fet  to  the  weflward  *. 

In  the  nighr  between  the  13th  and  the  14th, 
the  Solide  carried  away  her  main- yard,  while  the 
watch  were  employed  in  cluing  up  the  topfails, 
in  a  fquall  that  was  not  fufEciently  flrong  to  caufe 
this  accident  :  it  was  fuppofed  to  have  been  fprung 
during  the  gale  of  wind  ;  however,  it  was  expe- 
ditiouOy  replaced  by  a  fpare  yard. 

From  feveral  obfervations  made  on  the  15th  and 
ïéth,  it  was  concluded  that  at  noon  on  the  latter 
day,  the  fhip  was  in  longitude  17°  47',  and  latitude 
35"^  44'.  Since  the  obfervations  of  the  12th  and 
î3th,  the  differences  between  the  longitude  ob- 
ferved  and  that  by  account,  had  been  fo  fmall,  that 
it  might  be  imagined  that  at  ieaft  a  part,  or  per- 
haps the  whole  of  thefe  differences,  belonged  to 
the  trifling  error  which  an  obferver  cannot  be  af- 
fured  of  guarding  againft  in  the  obfervation,  or  to 
the  error  which  may  ftill  be  found  to  affed  the 
aftronomical  tables  that  are  employed  in  the  cal- 
culation of  the  longitudes  deduced  from  the  moon's 
diflance  from  the  fun  or  ftars. 

We  are  therefore  juftified  in  thinking  that,  in 
tht  interval  from  the  12th  to  the  i6th,  the  differ- 


*  See  Note  LXVIL 


cnces 


May  1792.]       marchand's  voyage.  '  171 

ences  between  the  refuks  of  the  dead  reckoning 
and  thofe  of  the  obfervation,  were  by  no  means 
occafioned  by  the  effe6t  of  the  currents  which  had 
maftered  the  fhip  during  the  preceding  days*. 

Captain  Marchand,  having  found  by  the  ob- 
fervations  of  the  16th,  that,  at  noon  on  that  day, 
he  was  under  the  meridian  of  Cape  Aiguillas, 
and  fifteen  leagues  to  the  fouthward  of  that  cape,» 
fleered  north-weft,  in  order  to  make  the  Ifland 
of  St.  Helena,  where  he  intended  to  pafs  twenty- 
four  hours,  in  order  to  procure  fome  refrefliments 
for  his  crew  ;  and,  in  concert  with  Captain  Cha* 
nal,  he  employed  himfelf  in  this  run  in  afcer-^ 
taining  the  route  of  the  fhip  by  the  ufe  of  aftro- 
nomical  obfervations  which,  in  the  courfe  of  the 
voyage,  had  conftantly  guarded  him  againft  the 
uncertainties  and  errors  of  the  dead  reckoning. 

The  obfervations  of  the  25th  of  May  gavé 
4°  42'  eaft  longitude,  and  proved  that,  in  the  fpace 
of  the  laft  nine  days,  the  fhip  had  been  carried  to 
the  weftward  1°  6\  beyond  the  refult  of  the  dead 
reckoningf. 

Thofe  of  the  28th  fhewed  that  the  error  on 
the  fame  fide,  had  been,  in  three  days,      9  J. 

On  the  29th,  at  noon,  the  longitude  of  the  Ihip, 
deduced  by  the  twenty-four  hours'  dead  reckoning, 
from  that  which  had,  on  the  noon  of  the  precede 

*  See  Notes  LXVIII  and  LXIX. 
f  See  Note  LXX.  J  See  LXXL 

0  îng 


«72  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  [May  1792. 

îng  day,  been  given  by  the  obfervations  made 
that  fame  day,  was  15'  weft  from  Paris,  and 
the  latitude,  obferved  at  the  fame  inftant,  20°  52' 
fouth.  Thence  it  was  concluded  that  at  half  paft 
ten  o'clock,  in  the  morning  of  the  29th,  the  So- 
lide had  been  under  the  firft  meridian  of  France, 
under  which  fiie  had  already  paiïed  in  the  Medi- 
terranean, after  her  departure  from  Marseilles, 
on  the  19th  of  December  1790  :  thus,  in  the  fpace 
of  feventeen  months  and  ten  days,  or  only  thirteen 
months  and  a  half,  deducting  the  time  pafled  at 
anchor,  at  the  different  anchorages,  and  the  length 
of  the  ftay  at  the  Ifle  of  France,  the  ftiip  had 
circumnavigated  the  globe  in  the  diredion  of  the 
diurnal  revolution  of  the  fun,  or  to  exprefs  myfelf 
more  corre6lly,  in  the  inverfe  diredion  to  the  diur- 
nal revolution  of  the  earth  :  and  if,  on  his  arrival 
at  Macao,  Captain  Marchand  had  not  added 
a  day  to  the  computation  of  time,  he  muft  have 
added  it  here,  in  order  to  agree  again  with  the 
date  and  the  calendar  of  the  meridian  of  Paris. 

The  obfervations  for  the  longitude  on  the  29th, 
proved  that,  in  the  laft  twenty-four  hours,  the 
currents  had  aded  feebly  in  increafing  the  fhip's 
progrefs  by  account  towards  the  weft  ^  ^  and  thofe 
of  the  30th  even  feemed  to  indicate  a  progrefs  ftill 
fm aller  by  i  minute  towards  that  fide,  than  wa§ 
given  by  the  dej^d  reckoning  f. 


^  Sef  Note  LXXII.         i  Sçs  Note  LXXIJI. 

Biït 


May  1792.]       marchand's  voyage.  173 

But  if  the  movement  of  the  waters  had  no  longer 
a6led  in  the  diredion  of  the  longitude,  their  adion 
occafioned  confiderable  errors  in  the  dire6lion  of 
the  latitude  :  the  obfervations  fhewed  that,  in  the 
interval  of  four  days,  from  the  30th  of  May  to  the 
3rd  of  June,  the  currents  had  carried  the  Ihlp  33 
minutes,  or  thirty-three  miles  to  the  fouthward*. 

Half  an  hour  before  noon  of  this  latter  day,  our 
navigators  had  the  firfl  fight  of  St.  Helena, 
bearing  weft  by  fouth,  at  the  diftance  of  about 
twelve  leagues  ;  and  it  is  at  this  diftance,  and  in 
this  diredion,  that  the  ifland  ought  to  have  borne 
from  the  fhip,  according  to  the  dead  reckoning, 
deduced  from  the  longitude  which  had  been  deter- 
mined on  the  30th  of  May  by  obfervations  of  the 
diftances  of  the  fun  and  moon.  This  fituation 
being  afcertained  left  little  doubt  that,  the  next 
day  in  the  courfe  of  the  forenoon,  the  ftiip  might 
caft  anchor  in  the  road  of  James  Town,  fituated 
about  the  middle  of  the  north-weft  coaft  of  the 
ifland. 

On  the  4th,  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning. 
Sugar -Loaf  Point  bore  weft  fouth- weft,  and  the 
extremity  of  the  moft  eaftern  land  in  fight  bore 
dire6lly  fouth.  After  having  hoifted  out  the  boats, 
and  doubled  the  north  point.  Captain  Marchand 
ftood  in  for  the  road  under  the  topfaiis,  by  the 
help  of  a  light  breeze  from  fouth-eaft  to  eaft-fouth- 

*  See  Note  LXXIV, 

eafti 


1/4  marchand's  voyage,      [May  179s. 

caft  ;  and  at  half  paft  ten  o'clock,  the  Solide  came 
to  an  anchor  off  James  Town,  in  thirteen  fathoms, 
over  a  bottom  of  fine  gray  fand  ;  Sugar-Loaf 
Point  bearing  eaft  31°  45' north,  Munden's  Point, 
fouth  20°  30'  eaft,  and  the  flag-ftafF  of  the  go-- 
vernor's  houfe,  fouth  9°  15' eaft. 

Captain  Marchand  fourid  at  the  anchorage  two 
Englifli  Eaft-Indiamen  ;  and,  a  few  hours  after  his 
arrival,  a  ftiip  which  he  had  met  with  at  fea  like  wife 
came  and  anchored  in  the  road, 

I  ftiall  not  here  terminate  what  concerns  the 
Solide's  run  from  the  Ifle  of  Réunion  to  St* 
Helena,  without  ftiewing,  both  with  what  ex- 
adlnefs  fhe  made  the  land  on  this  latter  ifland,  and 
to  what  a  dangerous  error  fhe  would  have  been 
expofed,  had  not  the  dead  reckoning  been  rec- 
tified by  aftronomical  obfervations. 

The  laft  obfervations  for  the  longitude  had  been 
made  on  the  30th  of  May  ;  and  it  was  from  this 
fixed  point  that  Captain  Marchand  fteered  for 
making  the  land.  In  applying  to  the  longitude 
determined  by  thefe  obfervations,  the  progrcfs  by 
account  towards  the  weft  fmce  that  period,  a  pro  - 
grefs  which  he  had  reafon  to  think  fufKciently 
exadl,  fmce,  during  thefe  latter  days,  the  currents 
had  ceafed  to  ad:  on  the  fhip  in  the  diredlion  of 
the  longitude,  we  find  that  the  longitude  of  the 
fliip,  in  fight  of  James  Town  agrees,  to  a  minutey 
with  that  which  had  been  fixed  for  that  town 
byNEViL  Maskelyne,  the  aftronomer  royal  of 

Green- 


June  1792.]       marchand's  voyage.  175 

Greenwich.  This  extreme  precifion  is,  no  doubt, 
an  efFeft  of  chance,  fmce  Captain  Marchand  was 
obliged  to  employ  the  dead  reckoning  for  the  lail 
five  days  of  the  paffage,  and  fmce  this  calculation 
might  be  afFeded  by  fome  error  :  but  lec  us  fee 
in  what  longitude  the  fliip  would  have  been  fuppo- 
fed  to  be  if,  in  failing  only  from  within  fight  of 
the  coait  of  Africa,  on  the  9th  of  May,  he  had 
been  under  the  neceffity  of  direding  his  courfe  by 
the  dead  reckoning. 

On  the  4th  of  June,  Captain  Marchand,  would 
have  reckoned  that  he  had  arrived  at  3°  weft  longi- 
tude, when  he  had  already  reached  8*^  4'  :  the  error 
ûfiern  would  then  have  been,  after  twenty-five  days 
only,  5°  4^  which,  in  the  parallel  of  St.  Helena, 
anfwer  to  upwards  of  îiinety-Jeven  leagues  :  but  if^ 
as  that  was  poiïlble,  and  has  often  happened,  he 
had  not  made  the  coaft  of  Africa,  but  had  made 
a  dire 61  run,  from  the  Ifle  of  Réunion  to  St. 
Helena,  the  error  aftern^  ^htr  forty -three  àdijs y  the 
length  of  a  very  ordinary  pafTage,  would  have  been 
§°  35',  or  upwards  of  one  hundred  and  fixty-Jeven 
leagues'^. 

In  order  to  make  the  reader  fenfible  what  f^tai 
confequences  might  have  enfued  from  an  error 
afiern  of  upwards  of  five  degrees,  which  ftili  re- 
jTiained,  at  the  time  of  making  the  land  on  the 
ifland  of  St.  Helena,  notwithftanding  the  cor*- 

*  ^e€  Note  LXXIV» 

reélio^n 


iyG  marchand's  voyage.       [June  1792. 

rc6lion  of  3°  30',  made,  twenty-five  days  before, 
within  fight  of  the  coaft  of  Africa,  it  will  be 
fufficient  to  obferve  that,  in  the  perfuaflon  in 
which  Captain  Marchand  muft  have  been  that 
the  fliip  was  ftill  near  one  hundred  leagues  to  the 
eaftward  of  St.  Helena,  it  was  poffible  that  if, 
in  coming  to  feek  this  fmall  ifland,  he  had  not^ 
kept  cxadly  in  its  parallel,  he  would  not  have 
perceived  it  during  the  night,  and  that,  in  the  dark, 
he  would  have  pafîcd  it  without  fufpe6ling  it: 
and  it  was  the  more  to  be  feared  that  he  would  not 
be  able  to  keep  in  a  given  parallel,  as  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  run,  the  fhip  had  been  conftantly  car- 
ried to  the  fouthward,  and  fometimes  at  a  con- 
fiderable  rate  in  the  interval  of  twenty-four  hours. 
Befides,  it  is  well  known  that,  in  the  parallel  of 
St,  Helena,  the  winds  blow  conftantly  from  the 
points  of  the  compafs  near  the  eaft  3  and  it  is  well 
known  too  that  there  is  no  longer  a  poffibility  of 
getting  again  to  windward  of  the  ifland,  if  a  iliip 
»  has  once  palTcd  its  meridian  :  I  lliall  add  that  the 
fteadinefs  of  tlie  winds  here  prefents  an  additional 
danger  ;  for  if,  in  confequence  of  an  error  in  the 
longitude,  a  veffel  ihould  happen  to  be  hemmed  in 
during  the  night  on  the  windward  coaft  of  the 
ifland,  this  iron  coaft  affords  no  other  profped  than 
that  of  fiiipwreck,  without  any  hope  of  fafety  either 
for  the  veflel  or  for  the  people. 

As  the  road  of  St.  Helena  is  little  frequented 
by  the  French,  to  whom,  however,  it  may  be  im- 
portant 


June  1792.]         MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  I77 

portant  to  be  acquainted  with  it,  and  as  it  is  fo 
well  known  to  the  Englifh,  that,  in  the  accounts 
of  their  voyages,  they  difpenfe  with  entering  into 
any  detail  refpeéling  the  anchorage,  I  have  thought 
that  it  would  be  ufeful  to  preferve  the  remarks 
which  Captain  Chanal  was  enabled  to  make, 
as  well  in  regard  to  the  precautions  to  be  taken, 
as  to  the  courfe  to  be  held,  by  a  fliip  that  intends 
to  anchor  in  this  road  (lead. 

The  Ifland  of  St.  Helen'a  is  fufficiently  high 
to  be  difcerned,  in  clear  weather,  at  the  diftance 
of  twenty  leagues.    Itprefents,  at  the  firft  afpedl, 
nothing  but  a  heap  of  fteep  rocks,  feparated  by 
narrow  and  deep  vallies.    The  anchorage,  as  has 
been  faid,  is  fituated  on  the  part  of  the  coaft  that 
j  faces  the  north -weft  :  and  as  the  ifland  is  placed  in 
I  the  region  of  the  trade -winds,  it  is  always  necef- 
[  fary  to  make  the  land  to  the  northward  of  this 

I  part,  and  to  fteer  for  Sugar-Loaf  Point,  the  moft 
)  northern  of  this  coaft  :  firft,  you  muft  range  very 

I I  clofc  to  this  pointy  near  it,  there  is  no  danger  to 
u  be  dreaded  i  the  coaft  every  where  is  bold  and 
1 1  fafe.  On  Sugar-Loaf  Point  is  feen  a  fmall  fort, 
I  bearing  this  infcription,  which  is  a  warning  to 
;  Ihips  coming  into  the  roadftead  :  "  Send  the  jhifs 

boat  ^Jhore^.''  From  this  point,  a  boat  may  be 
!  difpatched  in  order  to  announce  to  the  governor 

*  I  have  been  told  that  this  notice  is  there  written  in  thfec 
1    languages,  Englifh,  French,  and  Portuguefe. 

VOL,  II.  N  the 

■f  I 

■:t 
I 


marchand's  voVage.       [June  1792. 


the  (hip's  arrival.  Captain  Chanal  fays  he  was 
told  that  if  the  commander  of  a  veffel  negleéled  to 
conform  to  what  is  prefcribed  in  this  refpedl,  fhc 
would  be  expofed  to  be  fired  at  by  the  fort: 
Captain  Marchand  was  unable  to  comply  with 
this  formality  till  after  he  had  anchored  in  the 
road,  and  yet  the  fort  did  not  fire. 

After  you  have  paffed  Sugar -Loaf  Point,  you 
continue  your  courfe  under  eafy  fail,  till  you  arc 
arrived  at  the  anchorage. 

From  this  firft  point,  you  perceive  the  fhips 
that  may  be  lying  in  the  road,  and  you  fleer  for 
them  :  if  there  be  none  there,  which  is  very  fel- 
dom  the  cafe,  you  iKould  fleer  fo  as  to  pafs  at  a 
little  diflance  from  Munden's  Point,  where  is 
built  a  fmall  fort  by  which  it  may  be  known.  It 
is  neceilary  to  range  clofe  along  the  land,  if  you 
do  not  wifh  to  be  forced  to  ply  to  windward  in 
order  to  reach  the  anchorage  :  you  have  nothing 
to  fear  but  the  fqualls  that  come  from  the  two 
vailles  fituated  between  Sugar-Loaf  and  Mun- 
pen's  Points;  you  mufl  therefore  carry  little  fail, 
and  ftand  by  the  topfail  haliards.  Each  of  thefe 
vailles  is  defended  by  a  battery  of  cannon. 

James  Valley,  in  which  Jamks  Town  is  fituated 
prefents  itfelf  immediately  after  M  un  den's  Point. 
As  foon  as  you  begin  to  difcoyer  the  fîag-flafF  ofi 
the  governor's  houfe,  you  may  let  go  the  anchor 
you  will  have  from  ten  to  twenty  fathoms  water 
according  as  you  have  anchored  nearer  to  or  far- 

the 

6 


June  1792.]         MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE» 


179 


ther  from  the  fliore  ;  but  if  you  anchor  in  ten 
fathoms,  bringing  the  flag-ftafF  of  the  governor's 
houfe  to  bear  fouth-eaft  6  or  7®  fouth,  you  will  be 
nearer  to  the  landing-place  and  to  that  for  filling 
water. 

It  is  fufficient  to  moor  with  a  ftream  anchor 
which  muft  be  carried  to  the  north-weft  by  the 
compafs.  The  fea-breezes,  from  the  fouth-weft 
to  the  north- weft,  are  here  very  rare  :  and  if  they 
happen  to  blow,  they  are  always  very  faint  :  only, 
in  this  cafe,  you  experience  a  heavy  fwell  which 
caufes  a  violent  furf  on  ftiore. 

It  will  not,  undoubtedly,  be  ufelefs  to  French 
navigators  to  add  to  thefe  merely  nautical  direc- 
tions various  particulars  important  to  be  known, 
which  are  neither  to  be  found  in  the  defcriptions 
that  have  been  given  us  of  the  Ifland  of  St, 
Helena,  by  Captain  Cook*,  and  George  For- 
STER  f ,  nor  in  the  more  ancient  Journals  of  Wil- 
liam Dampier  J,  to  whom  maritime  nations  are 
indebted  for  the  firft  accounts  of  voyages  from 
which  it  is  poffible  to  obtain  exaél  information. 

James  Town  is  built  in  the  bottom  of  a  narrow 
Valley,  commanded  by  two  hills.    A  battery  which 

*  Ha^kepworth's  Compilation,    Cook's  Firjî  Voyage,  Vol. 
page  794  to  798. — Cook's  Second  Voyage,    Vol.  II.  page  270» 

+  George  Forfter,  A  Voyage  Round  the  World)  &c.  Vol.  II. 
page  557  to  570. 

J  fV,  Damjfter,  A  Voyage  Round  the  Worlds  8cC.  Vol.  I.  page 
544  to  548,  Knapton's  edition,  1699. 


N  2 


occupies 


l8o  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.         [June  I792. 

occupies  the  whole  breath  of  this  valley,  defends 
the  approach  to  it,  and  prote6ls  the  anchorage. 
Some  redoubts,  towards  the  fea,  and  forts  ere6ted 
on  the  flope  of  the  adjacent  hills,  add  to  the  de- 
fence of  the  place  and  to  the  proteftion  of  the 
roadftead.  A  garrifon  of  five  hundred  men  is  main- 
tained for  the  guard  and  the  duty  of  thefe  different 
works,  as  well  as  for  the  police  of  the  ifland. 
Landing  appears  impradlicable  under  the  fire  of 
the  batteries  in  front,  the  lateral  redoubts,  and  the 
commanding  forts.  The  enemy  who  fhould  intend 
to  attack  St.  Helena,  can  do  no  more  than  at- 
tempt ^  bombardment,  under  cover  of  his  fhips 
of  the  line.  The  enterprife  would  at  leaft  be 
hazardous,  if  not  altogether  rafli  3  and  the  deftruc- 
tion  of  the  town  would  not  involve  the  furrender 
of  the  ifland  -,  for  it  is  doubtful  whether  a  defcent 
could  be  effedled  till  after  having  reduced  the  forts 
that  command  the  valley  :  and  the  commanding 
fituation  of  thefe  forts  is  fuch,  that  they  have  little 
to  dread  from  the  efFe6V.  of  the  artillery  of  fhips 
which  could  cannonade  them  only  at  a  diftance 
and  firing  directly  upwards,  while  the  forts  would 
fire  on  the  fhips  direclly  downwards,  and  make 
ufe  of  red-hot  balls  and  fhells,  with  a  moft  deci- 
five  advantage.  Neither  do  the  other  points  of  the 
jiorth-wefl  coafl,  more  than  thofe  of  the  windward 
and  leeward  coafts  of  the  ifland,  prefent  any  faci- 
lity for  a  debarkation,  and  on  thofe  which  appear 
Içfs  inacccffible,  batteries  or  redoubts  well-fituated 

and 


June  1792-]         MARCHAND's  VOYAGE. 


and  commanding  the  ground,  ftiii  add  to  the  diffi- 
culties, almoft  infurmountable,  which  nature  feems 
to  have  taken  a  delight  in  multiplying  on  the  whole 
circumference  of  the  ifland. 

Within  thefe  few  years,  there  has  been  con- 
ftruded,  as  near  as  poffible  to  the  landing-place, 
a  new  fountain,  by  means  of  which  a  fhip  com- 
pletes her  water  with  all  the  facility  and  difpatch 
that  can  be  wifhed  for  on  the  moft  extraordinary 
occafion.  The  cafks  are  landed  and  re-fhipped 
very  eafily  by  means  of  a  crane,  under  which  the 
long-boat  comes  alongfide  the  quay  without  dan- 
ger. For  want  of  a  long-boat  or  launch,  a  raft 
or  firing  of  calks  may  be  formed,  and  towed  on 
fhore,  and  from  the  fliore  on  board,  by  the  fmalleft 
boat. 

Each  veffel  pays  fpr  the  duty  of  anchorage,  five 
pounds  fterling,  or  twenty  dollars,  if  ihe  fills  more 
than  twenty  calks  with  water;  three  pounds,  or 
twelve  dollars,  if  flie  wants^  only  that  quantity  or 
lefs.  Foreign  veflels  are  not  taxed  at  a  higher 
rat;é  than  that  which  is  required  even  from  the 
fhips  belonging  to  the  Englifh  Eaft- India  company. 

This  company  have,  in  the  Ifland  of  St.  He- 
lena, of  which  they  are  proprietors,  ftorehoufes 
f»jpplied  with  all  the  rigging,  furniture,  fpare  fails 
and  mails,  that  a  fliip  can  ftand  in  need  of  after  a 
long  voyage,  or  after  a  gale  of  wind  that  has  oc- 
cafioned  her  fome  damages.  James  Town  is  a 
naval  ftorehoufe,  in  the  middle  of  the  South  At- 

N  3  lantic 


iSs  marchand's  voyagï;.      [June  1792. 

LANTic  Ocean,  open  indifcriminately  to  fhips  be- 
longing to  the  nation  and  to  foreigners.  The 
company,  in  delivering  the  articles  which  they 
hold  in  referve  for  the  wants  of  navigators,  put 
on  them,  for  their  own  profit,  an  increafe  of  fifty 
per  cent,  on  the  prices  of  Europe.  But  a  fliip 
that  fliould  have  occafion  to  heave  down  or  get  in 
new  lower  mafts,  would  not  find  a  poffibilLty  of 
making  good  thofe  great  defedls  3  however,  fhe 
might  there  procure  topmafts. 

The  refources  which  this  ifland  prefents  to  navi- 
gators are  not  confined  to  fupplies  of  naval  ftores  ; 
the  attentions  of  the  company  have  likewife  pro- 
vided for  the  means  of  hufbanding  for  them  fuc- 
cour  in  point  of  provifions.  An  unprecedented 
drought,  which,  in  1790  and  1791,  fpread  defola- 
tion  through  the  ifland,  has  for  a  time  deflroyed 
part  of  thefe  refources  ;  but  when  we  are  acquainted 
with  the  laborious  adlivity  of  the  inhabitants  who 
cultivate  this  rock,  and  we  calculate  the  intereft  of 
the  company,  we  are  perfuaded  that  this  wound 
will  ere  long  be  healed,  and  perhaps  is  fo  already. 
Captain  Chanal,  who  had  touched  at  St.  Helena 
in  1789,  tells  us  that,  at  that  period,  were  reck- 
oned there  three  thoufand  head  of  oxen,  a  confi- 
derable  number  of  flieep,  goats,  and  poultry  -,  that 
vegetables  of  all  forts,  and  of  the  beft  quality, 
were  to  be  had  there  in  abundance  ;  that  pota- 
toes were  very  common,  and  water-creffes  propa- 
gated to  fuch  a  degree  that  they  were  fold  by  the 

fack. 


June  1792.]       marchand's  Voyage.  183 

fack.  The  ifland  was  enabled  to  furnlili  annually 
to  the  fhips  that  put  in  here  five  or  fix  hundred 
oxen.  The  examination  took  place  in  the  month 
of  January  of  every  year  ;  five  or  fix  oxen  might 
be  delivered  to  each  veflel  :  and  the  number  was 
carried  to  ten  or  twelve  for  fhips  that  had  fick  on 
board,  or  extraordinary  wants.  But,  in  order  to 
prevent  all  abufe,  and  maintain  an  equal  diftribu- 
tion,  the  captains  were  bound  to  addrefs  their  de- 
mand to  the  governor  ^  and  the  latter  regulated 
the  number  of  oxen  to  be  delivered  to  each  ftiip. 

Such  was  the  ftate  of  this  colony  before  1790; 
but  the  two  years  of  drought,  and  the  want  of 
fodder  and  grain  that  was  the  confequence  of  it, 
had  occafioned  the  death  of  a  third  of  the  exen, 
and  deftroyed  the  greater  part  of  the  fheep,  goats, 
and  poultry.  In  1792,  there  was  as  yet  granted 
only  one  ox  in  cafe  of  the  moft  extreme  want  ; 
and  although  the  Governor,  Mr.  Brooke,  had 
manifefted  to  Captain  Marchand  the  bed  difpo- 
fition  for  gratifying  his  requefts  -,  although  he  had 
made  him  the  moft  obliging  and  the  moft  fmcere 
offers,  and  had  loaded  him  with  civilities,  our  na- 
vigators could  obtain  only  fix  ftieep,  a  few  pota- 
toes, and  fome  facks  of  herbage,  but  not  a  fingle 
fowl. 

There  is  no  bazar  or  public  market  at  St.  He- 
lena ;  a  ftranger  is  obliged  to  apply  to  fome  in- 
habitant in  order  to  procure  the  provifions  of 
which  he  ftands  in  need,  with  the  exception  of 

N  4  oxen  5 


2B4  marciiand's  voyage.       [June  1792. 

oxen  ;  but  the  price  of  every  article  is  fixed  by  a 
regulation ,  and  the  governor  takes  the  ftrifteft 
care  that  ftrangers  are  neither  cheated  nor  fuffer 
extortion  *.  ' 

I  fhall  not  undertake  to  give  a  minute  defcription 
of  thelfland  of  St.  Helena,  already  known  by  the 

*  Captain  Chanal's  journal  gives  us  the  prices  of  eatables  in 
the  month  of  July,  1789;  it  may  be  ufeful  to  preferve  the 
memorandum  of  this,  becaufe  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  after  a  few 
years  of  abundance  (hall  have  repaired  the  lofTes  of  the  ifland, 
provifions  may  fall  again  to  the  price  at  which  they  were  ob- 
taiaed  before  the  years  of  drought. 

An  ox,  weighed  alive,  coft  four  pence  half-penny  Jîerling  the 
Englifh  pound  ;  which  amounted  to  9  fous  tournois. 

Ditto,  weighed  by  quarters,  6  pence  Jierling,  the  pound,  or  12 
fous  tojirnois, 

A  goat,  fmall  and  lean,  a  dollar  and  a  half. 

A  Iheep  2  dollars  and  a  half. 

Poultry,  large  and  fmall,  18  JhillingSy  or  3^  dollars  the 
dozen. 

Water-creffes  and  herbage,  a  dollar  the  fack. 
Potatoes,  2  dollars  the  Englifti  hundred  cwt.  of  J05  French 
pounds. 

When  Captain  Chanal  was  at  St,  Helena,  in  Ï789,  he  learnt 
that,  from  the  month  of  January  to  that  of  July  of  this  year, 
eighty  (hips  of  all  nations  had  anchored  in  the  road,  and  nine 
were  lying  there  at  that  very  time  :  all  of  them  had  been  fup- 
plied  according  to  their  wants,  and  yet  the  laft  comers  found 
every  thing  that  they  had  occafion  for  ;  poultry  only  were  begin- 
ning to  grow  fcarce  ;  but  the  quantity  neceffary  for  each  of  the 
fhips  could  yet  be  procured.  When  he  returned  thither  1792, 
the  loffes  v/hich  the  inhabitants  had  fuftained,  and  the  fcarcity 
of  provifions  united  to  raife  the  price  of  thofe  which  the  ifland 
could  ftill  furnifn  ;  and  every  thing  was  paid  for  at  double  the 
rate  of  1789  ;  a  ilieep  4}  dollars,  a  cwt,  of  potatoes  2\_  dollars. 


journals 


Jane  1792.]       march AND's  VOYAGE.  185 

journals  of  the  Englilh  navigators  :  George  For- 
STER  has  taken  particdar  pains  to  defcribe  the 
nature  and  the  produdions  of  the  foii  ;  and  Thomas 
Raynal  *  has  colleéled  into  a  fingle  pidure  the 
principal  pafiages  fcattered  in  the  different  works 
that  I  have  quoted  f .  I  mean  only  to  prefent  the 
ifland  under  general  pçints  of  view,  and  to  bring 
forward  a  few  fads,  a  few  particulars,  fome  of 
which  belong  to  hiftory,  fome  to  general  phyfics, 
and  others  to  politics. 

Don  Jo  AO  da  Nova  Galego,  a  Portuguefc 
Admiral,  made  the  difcovery  of  St.  Helena  on 
the  2ifl:  of  May  1502,  on  the  day  of  the  faint  of 
that  name.  The  Dutch,  who,  in  the  fequel,  con- 
quered the  conquerors  of  India,  made  themfelves 
mailers  of  the  fmall  fettlement  v/hich  the  latter 
had  formed  on  the  ifland,  whither  they  had  already 
conveyed  goats,  hogs,  and  various  kinds  of  poultry. 
St.  Helena  afforded  a  place  for  procuring  re- 
frefliments,  a  fafe  roadftead  to  Ihips  coming  from 
Asia,  or  the  eaftern  coaft  of  Africa;  but  the 
Dutch  thought  proper  to  abandon  it  after  Sur- 
geon Van-Riebeck  had,  in  1650,  induced  their 
East -India  company  to  adopt  the  plan  of  a  fet- 
tlement much  more  important,  that  of  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope,  a  fituation  v/hich  the  Portuguefe 
had  negleded,  becaufe  they  were  not  fenfible  of 

*  Hijioire  Fhtlofophique  des  Deux  IndeSy  Vol.  II,  page  207 
to  209*   Pellet'^  8vo.  edition.    Geneva,  1780. 
t  See  page  179,  Notes     i,  J,  in  this  Volume. 

the 


i86 


MARCH  AN  r>'s  VOYAGE.       [June  1792. 


the  advantage  of  it  ;  a  fituation,  on  account  of 
which  England  has  fince  always  envied  Hol- 
land, vv^hich  fhe  has  at  length  contrived  to  get 
poiïcfiion  of  by  furprife,  and  which  the  commer- 
cial nations  muft  wifh  to  fee  foon  return  under 
the  domination  of  the  trading  company  who,  at 
the  fouthern  extremity  of  Africa,  founded  an 
European  colony,  and  one  of  the  moft  confidera- 
ble  towns  of  that  part  of  the  world. 

The  Englifh  eagerly  feized  on  the  Ifland  6f  St. 
Helena,  which  the  Dutch  abandoned  ;  but  the 
latter  could  not  fee  without  jealoufy,  nor  without 
uneafinefs,  their  rivals  in  commerce  occupy  a  poft 
with  the  utility  of  which  they  were  acquainted  : 
they  endeavoured  to  take  it  from  them,  folely  that 
the  former  might  not  poflcfs  it;  and,  in  1672, 
they  fucceeded. 

But  fhortly  after,  the  fame  motive  that  induced 
the  Dutch  to  wifh  to  deprive  the  Englifli  of  it, 
induced  the  latter  to  make  an  effort  to  retake  it. 
Captain  Munden  was  intruded  with  the  expedi- 
tion. He  landed  in  a  fmall  cove,  where  it  appears 
that  the  Dutch  had  not  conceived  that  a  debarka- 
tion was  practicable,  for  they  had  neglefted  to 
cre6l  there  any  fort  of  fortification  s  and,  before 
the  befieged  fufpedied  that  a  landing  was  effected, 
the  Englifh  had  already  reached  the  fummit  of  the 
hills  that  command  the  town;  and,  from  thefe 
heights,  they  battered  the  little  fort  which  foon 
capitulated' and  furrendered. 

Since 


June  1792.]         MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


187 


Since  that  period,  the  poffeflion  of  England 
has  not  been  difturbed. 

The  Ifland  of  St.  Helena  is  fituated  three  hun- 
dred and  thirty  leagues  from  Cape  Negro*  of  the 
Old  Continent,  and  fix  hundred  leagues  from  Cape 
Sant  AcosTiNHO-j-  of  the  New.  It  appears  to 
be  only  the  calcined  fummit  of  a  large  infulated 
mountain,  the  part  of  which  that  fhews  itfelf  above 
water  muft,  according  to  the  dimenfions  affigned 
to  it  in  the  journal  of  Cook's  firft  voyage,  be 
twelve  leagues  in  length,  by  fix  in  breadth  J  ;  and 

nothing 

*  Weftern  coafl:  of  Africa,  in  about  16^  fouth  latitude, 

+  Coaft  of  Brazily  in  about  8°  40^  fouth  latitude. 

J  I  am  very  far  from  vouching  for  the  accuracy  of  thefe  dimen- 
fions ;  I  report  them  out  of  refpeft  to  the  name  of  Cook,  fuch  as 
they  are  to  be  found  in  Hanvkefworth' s  Compilation,  Cook's  Firji 
yoyage,  Vol.  III.  p.  391  ;  they  differ  greatly  from  thofe  which 
feveral  charts  have  given  to  this  ifland. 

If  there  be  an  error,  as  I  think  there  is,  it  is  far  from  being 
proved  that  the  error  belongs  to  Cook,  whofe  exaftnefs  is  known . 
but  we  cannot  have  the  fame  confidence  in  the  compiler,  who  is 
frequently  found  in  fault. 

What  might  induce  us  to  imagine  that  the  dimenfions  given 
in  Cooi's  journal  are  greatly  exaggerated,  is  that  it  is  there  men- 
tioned, that,  while  the  Endea^vour  lay  in  James  Touun  Road,  Mr* 
Banks  impro'ved  the  time  in  making  the  complete  circuit  of  the 
*f  ijland,  and  <vijiting  the  moji  remarkable  places  upon  it.'*  I  ob- 
ferve  that  the  Ihip  anchored  on  the  ift  of  May  at  noon,  and  that 
Ihe  failed  again  on  the  4th,  at  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  :  fup- 
pofing  that  Mr.  Banks  employed,  in  his  excurfion,  the  three 
whole  days,  and  that,  during  thefe  feventy-two  hours,  he  took 
no  reft,  this  time  will  ftill  appear  infufiicient  for  making  the  cir» 
cuit  of  the  St.  Helena  of  Cook's  journal,  and  vifiting  the  re- 
markable places  ujpon  it  ;  for  an  ifland  that  is  fuppofed  to  be 

tn/jel've 

t 


i88 


marchand's  voyage.       [June  1792. 


nothing  announces  that  it  has  beionged  to  a  chain 
of  high  lands  which  has  been  fwallowed  up  by  the 
waters  -,  for,  at  a  very  fnfiall  diftance  all  round  the 
ifland,  the  fea  is  unfathomable  :  and  although,  for 
three  hundred  years  paft,  the  part  of  the  Atlan- 
tic Ocean  where  it  is  fituated,  has  been  ploughed 
and  crofTed  in  every  diredion,  by  Ihips  of  all  the 
nations  that  frequent  this  fea,  no  other  ifland  has 
been  met  with,  on  a  circumference  of  two  hun- 
dred and  thirty  leagues  radius  of  which  St.  He- 


tiuelnje  leagues  long  by  fix  broad,  and  whofe  form  differs  little 
from  that  of  an  oblong  fquare,  muft  be  thirty -fix  leagues  in  cir- 
cumferenccy  without  reckoning  the  finuofities  which  muft  ftill 
lengthen  it. 

George  Forfier,  (Vol  II.  page  570  of  his  journal)  fays  that 
the  greateft  extent  of  the  ifland  is  nearly  eight  m'tleSi  and  the 
circuit  above  taventy  :  thefe  dimenlions  are  fo  far  from  agreeing 
with  thofe  affigned  to  it  by  Captain  Cook's  journal,  that  I  fhould 
be  almoft  tempted  to  fuppofe  that  Mr.  Forjiery  who  is  a  German, 
meant  German  miles  of  fifteen  to  a  degree  ;  the  eight  miles  of 
extent  would,  in  that  cafe,  anfwer  to  io|  French  and  Englifli 
leagues  of  twenty  to  a  degree  ;  and  the  tiventy  miles  in  circuit,  to 
26  y  leagues.  If  it  were'fuppofed  that  Mr.  Forjier  had  exprefled 
himfelf  in  marine  miles  of  60  to  a  degree,  the  length  of  the 
iHand  would  be  only  2*  leagues  :  this  is  that  which  the  charts 
of  the  Dutch  who,  formerly  polTefTed  St.  Helena,  as  well  as 
fome  French  and  foreign  charts,  have  given  it  ;  but  I  think  this 
length  too  little, 

Dampier  ('a  Voyage  Round  the  World,  Vol.  I.  p.  544)  merely 
fays  that  *S'/.  Helena  is  nine  or  ten  leagues  in  length  :  this  navi- 
gator always  expreffes  himfelf  in  marine  leagues  of  20  to  a  degree  : 
thefe  dimenfions  would  come  near  to  thofe  given  it  by  Coca's 
journal. 


LENA 


June  1792.]         MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  189 

LENA  would  be  the  centre^  that  is  to  fay,  on  a 
Ipace  of  near  fourteen  hundred  leagues  in  circuit. 

It  may  be  remarked  that  Jouth  of  the  equlno£tial 
line,  in  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  all  the  iflands  are 
Jolitary^  fcattered,  and  placed  at  too  great  diftances 
from  each  other  for  it  to  be  poffible  to  fuppofe 
that  they  belong  to  the  fame  chain;  ^)\At  north 
of  the  line,  in  this  very  ocean^,  the  illands  are  dif- 
pofea  in  groups ^  known  by  the  names  of  the  Cape 
DE  Verd  Iflands,  the  Canary  Iflands,  and  the 
AçoRES  or  Weftern  Iflands.  The  contrary  is  feen 
in  the  Great  Ocean  to  the  weft  of  America  ;  it 
is  Jouth  of  the  equator  that  are  fituated  all  thofe 
archipelagoes  of  low  iflands  and  high  iflands,  with 
the  fituation  of  which  modern  voyages  have  brought 
us  acquainted  ;  and  north  of  the  line,  with  the 
exception  of  the  archipelago  of  the  Sandwich 
Iflands,  all  the  iflands  are  Jolitary^  and  thrown  at 
great  diftances  from  each  other  :  it  is  only  at  the 
Mary  Anne  Iflands,  fituated  two  hundred  leagues 
to  the  eaftward  of  the  Philippines,  the  northern 
part  of  the  great  archipelago  of  Asia,  that  the 
iflands  begin  to  form  a  chain,  or  to  be  grouped. 
To  what  phyfical  caufe  is  to  be  attributed  this  dif- 
ference between  the  difpofition  of  the  Iflands  of 
the  Atlantic  Ocean  which  feparates  Europe 
and  Africa  from  America,  and  that  of  the 
Iflands  of  the  Great  Ocean  which  feparates  the 
latter  from  Asia?  Why^  on  the  one  hand,  are  the 
fcattered  iflands,  and  on  the  other,  '  the  grouped 

iflands. 


igo  marchand's  voyage.      [June  1792. 

iflands,  to  be  found  in  oppofition,  in  the  two 
Oceans,  v/ith  refpcd  to  the  equator,  although 
fîtuated  on  parallels  nearly  cquidiftant  from  tîiis 
circle,  and  under  this  fame  torrid  zone,  compre- 
hended between  the  two  tropics,  the  region  of  the 
trade-winds  throughout  all  the  circumference  of  the 
globe  ?  Why,  with  circumftances  that  are  the 
fame,  do  not  the  fimilar  mafles  correfpond  with 
each  other,  if,  in  both  hemifpheres,  their  formation 
be  the  effed  of  the  fame  caufe  ?  If,  as  it  might 
be  prefumed,  fome  great  convulfion  of  Nature, 
by  linking  fome  lands  under  the  waters,  has 
brought  to  view  others,  and  has  preferved  of  the 
former,  only  a  few  fummits,  a  few  pinnacles 
which  indicate  the  direétion  of  the  chains  of  their 
mountains,  we  muft  then  fuppofe  that,  in  that  part 
of  the  Atlantic  Ocean  fituated  to  the  fouth 
of  the  equator,  and  in  that  part  of  the  Great 
Ocean  fituated  to  the  north  of  this  fame  circle, 
immenfe  vallies  occupy  the  fpaces  where  at  this 
day  are  feen  thofe  fmall  iflands,  which,  in  ancient 
times,  muft  have  been  lofty  mountains,  infulated 
on  thofe  vaft  regions  ;  while,  in  the  parts  of  both 
feas  refpedlively  oppofite,  fome  high  lands  whofc 
elevation  extended  over  long  fpaces,  have,  by  the 
fummits  of  their  great  mountains,  formed  the 
large  iflands  which  we  fee  united  in  groups.  Can 
we  fuppofe  that  the  maffes  in  oppofition  in  the 
two  oceans,  feparated  between  them  by  half  of 
the  circumference  of  the  earth,  and  placed  at 

diftances 


June  1792.]       marchand's  voyage* 


diftances  nearly  equal  on  the  one  hand  to  the 
fouth,  and  on  the  other,  to  the  north  of  the  equa- 
tor, are  neceffary  for  the  balance  of  the  globe? 
But  the  neceffity  of  this  equilibrium  has  difap-- 
peared,  fince  navigation,  pufhed  by  Cook  beyond 
the  feventy-firft  parallel  fouth,  has  demonflrated 
that  the  pretended  Southern  Continent  which 
was  fuppofed  neceflary  for  balancing  the  great  lands 
fituatcd  under  the  Ar6lic  polar  circle  and  beyond 
it,  has  never  exifled  but  in  the  inaagination  of  a 
few  natural  philofophcrs,  who,  from  the  recefîes 
of  their  clofets,  wifh  to  fubmit  to  their  little  hypo- 
thefis,  the  grand  fyftem  of  Nature  and  the  uni« 
verfality  of  her  means.  At  every  (lep  that  we 
take  on  this  terraqueous  globe,  alternately  over- 
thrown, and  perhaps  both  by  fire  and  by  water, 
it  feems  that,  inftead  of  elucidating  the  theory  of 
its  formation,  inftead  of  acquiring  fome  certain 
knowledge  refpedling  its  primitive  flate,  we  fee, 
on  the  contrary,  darknefs  thicken  :  and  the  night 
of  time,  which  envelops  the  infancy  of  the  world, 
fcarcely  fulFers  us  to  get  a  glimpfe  of  the  image  of 
the  chaos,  from  which  it  has  been  drawn  by  that 
univerfal  Power  who  has  placed  immenfity  between 
his  a6lion  and  the  limit  of  human ,  conceptions  j 
that  eternal,  immutable  caufe,  which  has  aded 
only  once  for  ever  ;  fole  principle,  invifible 
mover,  whofe  Iprings,  no  doubt,  it  is  not  given 
to  man  to  know,  and  whofe  effc6ts  he  muft  con- 
tent himfeif  with  admiring,  without  pretending  to 
explain  them. 

Î  retura 


ig2 


marchand's  voyage.      [June  1792, 


I  return  to  Saint  Helena  of  which  the  digref- 
fion  that  I  have  indulged  myfelf  in,  has  made  us 
lofe  fight. 

Although  folitary  in  the  midft  of  the  South 
Atlantic  Ocean,  the  Ifland  of  St.  Helena 
announces  that  it  owes  its  origin  to  the  fame 
caufe  to  which  is  attributed  the  formation  of  the 
iflands  that  compofe  the  groups  fituated  north  of 
the  equator  :  it  prefents,  throughout,  a  piéture  of 
ruins  :  every  thing  there  indicates  the  aftion  of  a 
fubterraneous  fire,  of  an  eruption,  of  an  earth- 
quake that  has  overthrown  its  furface,  and  dif- 
compofed  its  whole  mafs.  Although  feparated  by 
large  vallies,  the  oppofite  hillocks  exhibit  one 
fame  afpe6l,  Ihew  the  fame  ftrata  placed  at  the 
fame  heights,  and  have  the  fame  diredion  ;  while 
the  ftones,  efpecially  thofe  which  are  found  in  the 
bottoms,  are  calcined  and  nearly  reduced  to  afhes. 
The  navigator  who  makes  the  land  on  the  wind- 
ward fide  of  the  ifland,  at  firft  perceives  nothing 
but  a  heap  of  broken  rocks,  feparated  by  preci- 
pices, the  height  of  which  the  eye  cannot  mea- 
fure.    Captain  Cook  fays  that,     in  failing  along 

the  Ihore,  he  came  fo  near  the  huge  cliffs,  that 
"  they  feemed  to  overhang  the  fliip,  and  the  tre- 

mendous  effed  of  their  giving  way,  made  him 
"  almofl  fear  the  event*  j  and,  no  doubt,  it  will 

*  Ua^wke/nvorth* s  Comptlaùon»  Cook* s  Firft  Voyage»  Vol. 
III.  page  392.  4to  edition, 

"  not 


June  1792-]      marchand's  voyage.  193 

"  not  be  imagined  that  Captain  Cook  was  eafiiy 
"  alarmed/' 

In  continuing  to  range  along  the  coaft  that  faces 
the  north-weft,  you  at  length  difcover  a  deep 
valley  -,  this  is  called  Chapel  Valley  ;  it  refem- 
bles  a  large  trench,  the  opening  of  which  is  turned 
towards  the  fea,  and  which,  growing  narrower, 
terminates  in  an  acute  angle  in  the  interior  of  the 
ifland.  The  ground  of  the  valley  prefents  fome 
appearance  of  verdure  5  but  its  flopes,  or  rather 
its  inclined  ramparts,  are  as  fteril,  as  naked,  as 
the  rocks  with  which  the  coaft  is  bounded.  It  is 
not  till  after  you  have  cleared  the  firft  hills,  that 
you  find  verdure  in  the  vallies,  and  that  portions 
of  cultivated  land  announce  that  the  foil  fit  for 
vegetation  waits,  in  order  to  yield  fuftenance  to 
man,  only  for  his  labour  to  render  produdive  by 
culture,  the  arable  intervals  left  between  the  bar- 
ren rocks  which  compofe  the  furface  of  the  ifland. 

The  various  advantages  which  St.  Helena 
affords,  as  well  from  its  fituation  and  the  facility 
of  its  defence,  as  from  the  produce  of  its  foil, 
which  at  this  day  fuffices  for  its  fcanty  popula- 
tion, and  would  foon  fuffice  for  a  greater,  have 
not  efcaped  the  fpeculations  of  the  modern  Phoe- 
nicians: it  is  in  Chapel  Valley,  in  that  angular 
ditch,  that  a  company  of  merchants  to  whom  the 
Britifti  government  gave  up  the  property  of  the 
ifland,  have  built  a  town  under  the  name  of  James 
Town  5  it  is  on  the  ruins  of  an  Old  World,  that 

VOL.  II.  o  they 


194  marchand's  voyage.       [June  179 â. 

they  have  founded  a  colony  entirely  Englifh,  whofe 
population  amounts  to  two  thoufand  individuals, 
including  in  this  number,  about  five  hundred  fol- 
diers,  of  whom  the  garrifon  of  the  ifland  is  com- 
pofed,  and  fix  hundred  flaves  employed  in  diffe- 
rent labours.  If  the  colony  has  not  rifen  to  the 
degree  of  profperity  to  which  it  might  afpire,  it 
is  on  the  fovereign  company  alone  that  the  re- 
proach ought  to  bear:  in  referving  for  themfelves 
or  for  their  agents,  the  greater  portions  of  the 
produ6î:ive  ground,  which  are  left  in  paftures  for 
the  rearing  of  the  cattle  intended  for  vi6tualling 
their  fliips  on  their  paffage,  they  have,  by  thefe 
refcrves,  limited  the  progrefs  of  induftry,  which 
would  have  employed  thofe  very  grounds  in  the 
cultivation  of  corn,  wines,  legumes,  and  nutritious 
roots.  The  activity  of  the  colonifts  derives  the 
moft  advantageous  benefit  from  the  fmall  quantity 
of  land  that  their  hands  are  permitted  to  turn  to 
account;  and  as  the  fole  traffic  that  is  tolerated 
by  the  monopoly  of  the  company,,  is  the  fale  of 
fruits,  herbage,  and  other  refrefliments  fit  for 
fhipping,  the  inhabitants  muft  have  applied  them- 
felves to  the  only  kinds  of  culture  which  can  in- 
fure  them  fome  profit.  Accordingly  all  the  free 
lands  are  afTiduoufly  cultivated  5  and  if  the  crops 
of  the  ifland  are  not  proportioned  to  the  fer- 
tility of  the  foil  and  to  the  temperature  of  the 
climate,  they  are  at  leafl  commenfurate  to  the 
portion  of  the  productive  furface  which  avarice 

confents 


June  1792.]         MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


confent;s  to  leave  to  induftry  :  for,  as  Virgil 
fays,  if 

**  Labor  omnia  vincit 
**  Lnprobus,  et  duris  urgens  in  rebus  egejîas*»^* 

Thus  it  is  that  the  indefatigable  Maltefe  labo- 
rioufly  extends  over  the  rock  which  he  inhabits, 
a  ftratum  of  vegetable  earth  that  he  brought  from 
Sicily  ;  and  contrives  to  convert  into  a  garden  of 
Hesperides,  a  foil  which  Nature  feemed  to  have 
condemned  to  eternal  fteriiity. 

Two  rocks  have,  by  their  fituation  on  the  globe, 
deferved  to  fix  the  attention,  and  excite  the  jea- 
loufy  of  trading  nations  :  the  firft,  which  I  have 
juft  defcribed,  thrown  into  the  middle  of  the 
Atlantic  Ocean  between  the  Equinoftial  Line 
and  the  fouth  tropic  j  the  fécond,  placed  for  com- 
manding the  (Irait  that  feparates  two  parts  of  the 
Old  World,  and  conne6ted  by  a  tongue  of  land 
to  the  continent  of  Europe,  which  it  terminates 
to  the  fouth.  In  both,  the  labours  of  art  have 
furpalTed  the  work  of  Nature  y  in  the  formçr,  in 
order  to  fertilize  a  few  portions  of  land  -,  in  the 
latter,  in  order  to  Convert  an  infulated  promon- 
tory into  an  impregnable  fortrefs  againft  which, 
and  rather  recently  too,  the  combined  arms  of 

>    *  «  Then  all  thofe  arts  that  poliOi  life  fucceed, 
"  What  cannot  ceafelefs  toil,  and  prefling  need  ?" 

Warton. 


O  2 


two 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.         [J^mC  l/gS. 

two  great  powers  have  mifcarried.  Both  thefe 
important  pofls  are  occupied  by  the  fame  nation: 
the  one,  by  affording  to  its  rich  fleets  from  Asia,^ 
about  the  middle  of  their  voyage,  a  port,  a  place 
for  procuring  refrefliments,  facilitates  the  immenfe 
trade  which  it  carries  on  with  that  part  of  the 
earthy  the  other,  by  giving  up  to  it  the  gate  of 
the  MeditePvRanean,  puts  it  in  a  fituation  to 
open  or  fhut,  according  to  its  intereiis,  the  fources 
of  the  commerce  of  the  Levant  to  the  nations  that 
have  not  poffeffions  on  this  fea^  to  fetter,  at  its 
pleafure,  the  operations  of  its  competitors  j  and, 
in  cafe  of  war,  to  oppofe  the  jund^ion  of  the  ene- 
my's fleets  which  might  be  aflTemblcd  partly  in 
the  ports  of  the  Levant,  partly  in  thofe  of  the 
weft  Goaft  of  France:  at  the  fame  time  that, 
by  the  maritime  forces  to  which  it  affords  a  fliel- 
ter,  it  prefents  an  impoflng  mafs,  ever  ready  to 
reprefs  the  uneafy  adivity  and  check  the  fudden 
equipments  of  the  Barbary  powers,  who,  not 
carrying  on  any  trade  themfelves,  and  not  being 
able  to  enrich  themfelves,  but  by  piracy,  are  fkil- 
ful  in  creating  pretexts  for  declaring  war  againfl: 
the  nations  whofe  fhips  are  called  by  trade  into  the 
Mediterranean*. 

The 

*  Some  of  the  Northern  powers,  in  order  to  maintain  peace 
with  the  Barbary  States,  and  fave  the  expenfe  of  giving  con- 
voys to  their  (hipping  in  cafe  of  war,  have,  long  fince,  deter- 
mined to  pay  to  the  regencies  on  the  coaft  of  Africa  and  to  the 
King  of  Morocco,  a  fubfidy,  or  rather  an  annual  tribute,  which 


June  1792.] 


marchand's  voyage/ 


Î97 


The  rocks  of  St.  Helena  and  Gibraltar 
would  lofe  all  their  importance,  if,  as  in  pad 
times,  the  former  were  pofîefîed  by  the  Dutch, 
and  the  latter  re-attached  to  the  kingdom  of  SpaiNj 
from  which  it  was  difmembered  by  a  furprife, 
prepared  by  tréachcry.  But  what  weight  they  ac- 
quire in  the  political  fcale  of  Europe,  when  they 
are  united  under  the  power  of  a  nation  the  moft 
enterprifing,  of  a  nation  governed  by  principles 
inimical  to  the  profperity  of  every  others  to 
which,  neither  mutual  convenience,  nor  the  law  of 
nations,  nor  a  refpedl  for  property,  are  obftacles 
to  encroachment  and  invafion  -,  and  which,  by 
force,  by  artifice,  or  by  corruption,  attempts  to 
eftabli(li  itfelf  wherever  fome  apparent  benefit 
calls  its  commercial  fpeculations  Î  Have  we  not 
feen  it  contrive  to  confolidate,  by  treaties,  the 
fettlements  which  it  had  ufurped  on  the  Muskito 
fhore,  and  in  the  Bay  of  Campeachy  i  and  under 
the  idle  pretext  of  the  necefTicy  of  cutting,  for  its 
manufaftures,  the  wood  that  grows  on  thofe  parts 
of  the  New  Continent,  mafk  the  real  objed  of  its 


is  always  the  fundamental  claufe  of  every  treaty  of  peace  and 
friendfhip  with  thofe  ftates  j  this  is  what  may  he  called  con- 
tr'ihuttng  to  the  fire.  However  humiliating  this  facrifice  muft 
appear,  we  cannot  but  approve  of  the  conduft  of  the  nations 
which  have  thought  proper  to  fubmit  to  it  :  in  faft,  in  a  war 
with  pirates,  a  trading  people  has  nothing  to  gain,  and  every 
thing  to  lofe  ;  we  are  forced  to  purchafe  their  friendfhip  in  order 
pot  to  increafe  their  infolence  by  triumphs,  and  their  power  by 


(iemandsj 


^  3 


19^  marchand's  voyage.       [June  1792. 

demands,  the  prefervation,  in  the  centre  of  the 
Spanilh  polTefTions,  of  thofe  marts  for  fmuggling, 
which  infure  it  both  the  introdudtion  of  its  mer- 
chandifc,  and  the  iflue  by  the  fame  channel  of  a 
part  of  the  rich  produce  of  the  mines  of  Mexico 
and  PoTOsi  ?  Have  we  not  fèen  it  ready  to  run 
the  chances  of  a  war,  in  order  to  preferve  the 
contefted  pofleffion,  or  rather  not  to  make  the' 
reftitution  of  thofe  barren  iflands,  fituated  in  the 
latitude  of  the  Magellanic  Land,  of  which  it 
hoped  to  make  an  emporium  of  trade  in  the  auftral 
feas,  and  a  point  of  fupport  and  a  refreflhing- 
place,  when-ever  it  fliould  wifh  to  carry  war  to 
the  weft  coafts  of  America  ?  And  when  Europe 
Was  fcarcely  informed  that,  in  the  province  of 
SoNORA,  at  CiNEGuiLLA,  at  CiNALO,  and  in  other 
regions  which  extend  to  the  northward  of  Cali- 
fornia, the  Spaniards  had  found  new  mines  that 
furpafs  in  richnefs  all  thofe  which  had  hitherto 
been  difcovered  in  the  New  World,  already  this 
fame  nation  had  dire6ted  its  fliips  towards  the 
coafts  that  border  on  thofe  countries  ;  already  a 
fettlement,  which  announced  itfelf  as  having  no 
other  objedl  than  a  temporary  traffic  for  furs,  was 
rifmg  on  thofe  lands  fcaiceiy  known,  and  threatened 
Spain  with  a  fmuggling  trade,  the  more  difficult 
to  check,  as  a  greater  diftance  muft  more  eafily 
conceal  from  the   vigilance  of  the  Viceroy  of 
MExico-and  his  lieutenants,  fuch  clandeftine  opera- 
tions, which  never  fail  to  be  promoted  by  the  fub- 

altern 


June  1792.]         MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


aîtcrn  fuperintendants  ^whom  ic  is  not  difficult  to 
corrupt  by  interefting  them  in  the  fuccefs  of  the 
fraud.  Spain  has  fucceeded  in  difconcerting  this 
new  projedl  of  the  Britifb  government;  but  let  us 
not  imagine  that  it  is  relinquifhed  :  we  might 
rather  foretel  that  it  will  be  refumed  with  ardour, 
and  profecuted  with  perfeverance,  as  foon  as  more 
favourable  circumftances  can  infure  its  execution 
In  fhort,  we  fee  at  this  day  the  fame  nation  trea- 
eheroufly  avail  itfelf  of  the  troubles  that  agitate  a 
republic  not  long  fince  its  friend,  but  which, 
weary  of  the  yoke  of  an  ally,  become  its  mailer, 
returns  to  the  liberty  to  which  fhe  was  indebted 

*  The  treaty  which  Spain  concluded  with  England,  after 
the  difpute  relative  to  the  fettlement  of  Nootka,  is,  properly 
fpeaking,  only  a  palliative.  The  immenfe  extent  of  the  Spanifh 
polTeffions  in  America,  the  difficulty  which  their  diftance  oppofe* 
to  defence,  the  means  of  attack  which  a  power  entirely  mari- 
time has  always  at  its  difpofal,  no  doubt,  determined  the  cabinet 
of  Madrid  to  accede  to  propofals  of  peace.  The  embarraffment 
of  the  moment  allowed  not  of  calling  an  attentive  look  to  the 
dangers  of  the  future:  the  Spaniards  wiihed  for  peace;  they 
made  it.  But  this  treaty  which  gives  the  Englifh  the  liberty  of 
eftablilhing  themfelv^s  and  of  navigating  from  Cape  Mendoçino 
to  Nootka  Sound,  over  a  length  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  leagues  of 
coaft  ;  this  treaty  which  goes  fo  far  as  to  permit  them  to  ap- 
proach, within  the  diftapce  of  ten  leagues,  the  coaft  fubjed  to 
the  domination  of  Spain,  is  for  England  a  ftep  towards  the  ex- 
ecution of  other  projects  which  are  ripening  in  the  bofom  of 
filence,  Spain  is  not,  perhaps,  fufficiently  convinced  that,  in 
refped  to  commerce,  the  Englifti  are  lefs  formidable  as  enemies 
during  war,  than  dangerous  as  neighbours  during  peace.J 


for 


200 


marchand's  voyage.       [June  1792. 


for  the  rank  fhe  held  among  the  great  powers  of 
Europe,  we  fee  it  invade,  both  the  important 
fettlement  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  the 
Ifland  of  Ceylon,  ftill  more  important  from  its 
harbour  of  Trincamalay,  the  only  fafe  port,  in 
all  feafqns,  that  the  Indian  feas  can  afford  to  Eu- 
ropean fhipsi  feize  on  the  valuable  iflands  that 
produce  the  fpicesj  perhaps,  at  the  time  I  am 
now  fpeaking,  ravage  the  opulent  city  of  Batavia, 
if  the  infalubrity  of  its  climate,  formidable  to  ftran* 
gers,  and  conducive  to  its  fafety  in  thefe  circum- 
ftances,  has  not  proteded  it  from  attack  and  plun- 
der: and  Ihortiy,  no  doubt,  -we  lhall  fee  it,  after 
having  expelled  the  Batavians  from  the  feas  of 
Asia,  dired  its  Indian  fleet  and  army  againft  the 
Philippines,  which,   in  their  ordinary  ftate  of 
nakednefs,  leave  little  hope  that  they  can  oppofe 
a  long  refiftance  to  an  enemy  encouraged  by  the 
facility  of  his  fucceflfes,  and  ftrong  from  the 
weaknefs  of  the  means  that  can  be  oppofed  to 
hinii 

So  many  conquefts,  added  to  the  immenfe  do- 
mains which  England,  under  the  name  of  her 
Eaft-India  Company,  already  pofTeffes  on  the  con- 
tinent of  Asia,  compofe  for  her  an  ultramarine 
empire,  whofe  territorial  furface  is  more  than  dou- 
ble that  of  her  three  kingdoms  in  Europe,  and 
thus  tranfmit  into  the  hands  of  her  privileged  com- 
pany, all  the  rich  produdions  which  the  eaft  of 
6  the 


June  1792.]         MAj^HAND's  VOYAGE.  20t 

the  Old  Continent  barters  for  the  metals  of  the 
New  World  *. 

I  fliall  not  fpeak  of  the  Ifland  of  Trinadad, 
which  fhe  has  recently  acquired  by  right  of  con- 
queft:  we  muft  exped  that  fhe  will  fet  it  at  a 
very  high  price,  if  ever  fhe  refolve  to  reftore  it  ; 
becaufe,  being  fituated  at  the  head  and  to  wind- 
ward of  a  part  of  the  coaft  which  fpreads  over  an 
extent  of  twenty  leagues,  and  joins  to  the  Englifh 
fettleraents  in  the  Bay  of  Campeachy,  that  ifland 
will,  in  her  hands,  become  the  emporium  of  an 
immenfe  fmuggling  trade,  which,  introducing  itfelf 
by  all  the  points  of  that  long  coaft,  will  penetrate, 
through  innumerable  channels,  to  the  very  cen- 
tre of  the  Spanifli  pofîefTions. 

As  for  her  trade  with  the  Portuguefe  colonies, 
it  is  well  known  that  fhe  is  not  reduced  to  feek 
oblique  means  for^  fucceeding  in  it  :  fhe  leaves  to 
the  fhips  belonging  to  Portugal  the  care  of  im- 
porting to  America  the  produce  of  the  Englifh 
manufaélories,  and  of  thence  exporting  to  Eng- 
land the  produce  of  the  mines  of  Brazil. 

Thofe  who  have  read  hiflory,  and  have  reflect- 
ed on  reading  it,  cannot  be  miftaken  refpedling 
the  plan  which  Great-Britain  has  formed,  and 
towards  the  execution  of  which;^  fince  fhe  has 

It  is  proper  to  remark  th^t,  at  the  time  this  part  of  the 
original  work  was  printed,  neither  was  the  conqueft  of  Egypt 
achieved  by  the  French,  nor  '  had  the  Englifli  made  themfelves 
millers  of  Serlngapatam  and  the  Mjfore  country. — TranJIaur. 

occupied 


£02  marchand's  VOYAGE.       [June  Ï792, 

occupied  a  place  in  the  annals  of  Europe,  we 
fee  her  inceffantly  aiming,  fometimes  openly  and 
by  a  rapid  courfe,  more  frequently  in  the  dark, 
and  by  a  winding  and  imperceptible  progrefs. 
To  her,  trade  is  all  in  all  ;  and  this  too  is  the  god 
to]which  fhe  has  always  facriHced,  to  which  fiie 
will  facrifice  every  thing,  even  Tier  very  friends 
and  allies:  the  univerfality  of  commerce  which 
fhe  attributes,  and  would  wifh  to  appropriate,  to 
herfeif  5  commerce  without  participation  3  this  is 
what  was,  at  all  times,  the  object  of  her  medita- 
tions, the  regulator  of  her  enterprifes,  the  aim  of 
her  attempts  :  and  the  four  quarters  of  the  earth 
are  fcarcely  adequate  to  her  cupidity  and  ambition 
— Europe  is  witnefs  of  this  !  And  all  Europe, 
petrified  in  a  manner,  by  enchantment,  does  not 
in  a  mafs  take  up  arms  againft:  the  ufurpation  of 
the  commerce  of  the  world  Î  And  the  Northern 
Powers  leave  their  ufelefs  fhips  moored  in  their 
ports  !  They  all  feem  to  tremble  before  that  ter- 
rific giantefs,  more  impofing  than  real,  who  over- 
hangs the  frail  and  too  narrow  bafe  on  which 
fhe  (lands;  who  has  none  of  her  great  means 
within  herfelf ;  whofe  political  exiftence  is,  in 
fome  meafure,  only  a  prolonged  illufion  ;  and 
whom  it  will  be  fufficient  to  attack  in  her  navy 
which  conftitutes  her  ftrength,  in  her  trade  which 
conftitutes  her  wealth,  in  her  Afiatic  pofleflions 
which  nourifti  both,  to  fee  her  defcend  again  to 
the  inferior  rank  which  the  confined  extent  of  her 

European 


June  1792.]         MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


European  territory,  and  the  weaknefs  of  her  popu- 
lation,  have  afTigned  to  her  by  the  fide  of  the 
great  powers  that  divide  the  continent.  It  has 
been  faid  poetically,  and  a  thoufand  times  has  it 
been  repeated  ;  but,  without  a  figure,  hiftory 
proves  it  by  the  experience  of  ages,  that 

Ze  trident  de  Neptune  ejî  le  sceptre  du  monde. 

Let  all  the  nations  that  are  called  to  fliare  the  em- 
pire of  the  feas,  then  awake  at  laft  to  their  own 
intereft  ;  let  them,  in  order  to  break  this  iron 
fceptreform  a  maritime  coalition,  formidable  from 
its  mafs,  juft  in  its  obje6l  5  let  them  unite  their 
flags  and  their  efforts,  in  order  that  the  Ocean, 
which  Nature  meant  to  be  the  property  of  all, 
may  ceafe  for  ever  to  be  the  domain  of  one  alone, 
and  that,  fhortly,  we  may  fee  every  nation  of  the 
continent  participate,  in  proportion  to  its  territory 
and  population,  in  the  general  commerce,  in  the 
free  commerce  of  the  two  World^s  *. 

But  it  is  time  for  us  to  rejoin  the  Solide  in 
the  road  of  St.  Helena.  Captain  Marchand 
ftaid  there  no  longer  than  was  abfolutely  necefTary 
for  providing  himfelf  with  water,  and  procuring 
fuch  refrefhments  as  the  ifland  was  in  a  conditio^ 

*  The  fubje6l  of  the  'Northern  Confedera,cy  having  now  been 
fully  and  publicly  difcuffed,  ve  fupprefs  our  obfervations  on  the 
above  paffage,  w^hich  we  (hbuld,  otherwife,  have  thought  it  ouç. 
dui^  to  fubmit  to  the  reader, — Tranjlator^ 

to 


Ê04  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.         [JunC  1792» 

to  furnifti  to  his  fliip.  He  had  caft  anchor  on  the 
morning  of  the  4th  of  June  ;  and  on  the  ^th^  ^t 
half  pall  ten  in  the  evening,  he  fet  fail  for  Eu- 
rope. On  the  7th,  at  noon,  in  latitude  14°  53^, 
he  ftill  perceived  the  ifland  to  the  fouthward  j  he 
mull  then  have  been  at  the  diflance  of  about 
twenty-one  leagues  from  it. 

A  paflfage  acrofs  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  from 
the  Ifland  of  St.  Helena,  to  the  Strait  of 
Gibraltar,  can  prefent  no  particulars  that  de- 
fer ve  to  be  mentioned  ;  I  fhall  confine  myfelf  to  a 
few  remarks  relative  to  navigation. 

On  the  20th  of  June,  at  four  o*clock  in  the 
morning,  the  Solide  croiTedthe  line  at  the  twenty- 
fifth  meridian  wefl  from  Paris. 

At  this  period.  Captain  Marchand  began  to 
perceive  that  the  currents  fet  to  the  northward,  as 
had  been  experienced,  the  preceding  year,  north 
of  the  line,  in  pafTing  from  the  Cape  de  Verd 
Ifiands  to  Cape  Horn  5  and  he  expeded  that^ 
when  he  could  determine  the  longitude  by  aftro- 
nomical  obfervations,  he  would  find  that  the  fame 
currents  fet  alfo  to  the  wefbward,  as  had  been  ia 
like  manner  experienced  in  the  former  pafTage. 

It  was  not  till  the  loth  of  July  that  he  was 
convinced  of  it  j  and  he  had  already  got  into  the 
latitude  of  32"^  23'  north.  In  this  parallel,  four 
fcts  of  obfervations  of  diflances  of  the  fun  and 
moon,  the  mean  refult  of  which  we  reduced  to 
noon;,  announced  that  the  fhip  had  reached  the 

longitude 


Jiiîy  1792.]  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


205 


longitude  of  46°  27'  weft,  that  is  to  fay,  that 
fmce  her  departure  from  the  îfland  of  St.  He- 
lena, fuuated  in  B®  9^,  the  progrefs  tov/ards  the 
weft  had  been  38°  18':  and  as  it  was  only  35°  2i\ 
according  to  the  dead  reckoning,  it  was  thence 
concluded  that,  in  the  interval  of  thirty-four  days 
and  a  half,  the  currents  had  carried  the  ftiip  to 
the  weftward  beyond  her  apparent  progrefs,  2®  57', 
v/hich  may  be  eftimated  at  fifty-three  leagues  that 
the  reckoning  was  ajiern  of  the  fhip's  true  po-* 
lition. 

•  But,  at  the  fame  time  that  the  currents  had 
driven  the  fhip  to  the  weftward,  they  had  alfo 
driven  her  to  the  northward.  Their  diredlion 
towards  this  latter  quarter  had  not  been  conftant 
till  the  ftiip  had  reached  the  equator;  they  fome- 
times  fet  to  the  fouthward,  and  particularly  be- 
tween the  parallels  of  3°  and  1°  fouth  of  the  line  : 
here  they  fet  towards  that  fide,  fixteen  miles  in 
twenty- four  hours,  for  two  fucceffive  days  ;  but^ 
from  the  equator  to  the  parallel  of  32^  23'  norths 
their  tendency  towards  the  north  was  conftant,  and 
their  erFed  was  fometimes  twenty-one,  twenty- 
two,  and  twenty  -eight  miles  in  twenty-four  hours  ; 
quantities  which  the  real  progrefs  of  the  fhip  in 
latitude  was  in  excefs  beyond  her  apparent  pro- 
grefs. The  fum  of  all  the  errors  towards  the 
north,  deducting  the  errors  towards  the  fouth, 
is  one  hundred  and  ninety-eight  miles  or  fixty-fix 
leagues  :  and,  in  combining  the  fixty-fix  leagues 


go6  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE,  [July  I792, 

with  the  fifty-three  leagues  of  the  excefs  of  the 
real  progrefs  towards  the  weft  beyond  the  appa- 
rent progrefs,  it  will  be  found,  that,  in  the  interval 
of  thirty -four  days  and  a  half,  the  fhip  had  been 
carried  in  the  dire6lion  of  north-weft  6^  north 
(which  differs  little  from  that  which  fhe  had  fol- 
lowed) eighty- five  leagues  that  muft  be  added  to 
her  apparent  run,  in  order  to  have  her  real  run. 
It  may  be  concluded,  from  a  mean  term,  that  the 
daily  increafe  of  her  run  owing  to  the  efFedt  of  the 
currents,  was  feven  miles  four- tenths  in  twenty- 
four  hours*. 

Frefh  lunar  obfervations  were,  however,  made 
on  the  23d,  and  their  mean  refult,  reduced  to 
noon,  placed  the  Solide  in  34"^  32'  weft  longi- 
tude :  her  latitude,  at  the  fame  moment,  was 
41°  42'  north.  According  to  this  pofition,  fhe 
was  one  degree  and  fome  minutes  to  the  weft- 
ward  of  the  meridian  of  the  Iilands  of  Corvo 
and  Flores,  the  moit  weftern  of  the  Açores  f , 
and  on  a  parallel  more  northerly  by  two  degrees 
than  that  of  thofe  iflands. 

*  Sec  Note  LXXV, 

"f  According  to  the  obfervations  made  on  board  the  IJts  m 
I'] 6^  with  a  time-keeper  ; 

o        /  // 

South  point  of  the  Ifland  of  Corrvo  33  32  32  weft. 

North- weft  point  of  Flores .  33  26  34 

South  point  of  ditto  33  32  26 

Voja^e  de  /'Ifis  à  different  Parties  du  Monde,  en  1768  et  1769, 
pour  éprou'vcr  les  horloges  marines  de  Ferdinand  Berthoud.  Paris, 
hnprmer'ie  Rojale^  ^llh  4^0»  Vol,  I.  page  57410576. 

The 


July  1792.]      Marchand's  voyagé.  20;^ 

The  obfervations  of  this  day  fiiewed  that  the 
currents  which^  from  the  6th  of  June^  the  day  on 
which  the  departure  was  taken  from  St.  Helena, 
till  the  loth  of  July^  had  fet  to  the  northward  and 
weftward,  had  not  ceafed  to  fet  to  the  northward, 
between  the  loth  and  the  23d  of  July^  but  that, 
in  the  fame  interval,  they  had  fet  to  the  eaftward  ; 
that  their  compound  diredion  had  been  north  32 
or  33^  eaft  ^  and  that  their  efFedt  on  the  fliip's  run 
might  be  eftimated  at  three  miles  in  twenty-four 
hours  ^. 

The  obfervations  of  the  24th  confirmed  the 
direction  of  the  currents  towards  the  eaft  f. 

Others  of  the  27th,  made  at  twenty-fix  minutes 
after  four  in  the  evening,  gave  25°  32^  of  weft 
longitude  for  noon,  and  the  latitude  obferved  at 
the  fame  inftant,  was  41°  13' J. 

On  the  2nd  of  Auguft,  at  five  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  our  navigators  had  the  firft  fight  of  the 
land  of  Europe,  in  the  vicinity  of  Cape  St.  Vin- 
cent ;  it  extended  from  north  by  eaft  to  fouth  by 
weft.  The  haze  did  not  allow  of  their  diftinguifti- 
ing  even  the  extremity  of  the  cape  ;  but  yet  they 
might  conclude  that  their  diftance  from  the  coaft 
was  not  more  than  four  leagues. 

At  noon,  they  had  a  diftindt  view  of  it,  and 
Cape  St.  Vincent,  which  the  obfervations  of 

;   *  See  Note  LXXVI.  f  See  Note  LXXVIL 

t  Sfe  Note  LXXVIII. 


208 


MAilCHAND's  VOYAGE.         [July  I792. 


BoRDA,  in  17765  have  fixed  in  37^  2' 20'^  north 
latitude,  and  1 1"^  2 1' 36'^  weft  longitude*,  bore 
eaft  half  fouth,  at  the  diftance  of  two  leagues  and 
a  half  eftimated  by  the  eye.  The  Solide's  latitude 
was  therefore,  at  that  moment,  37°  3'  (it  was 
obferved  on  board  the  fhip  37^  2')  and  her  lon- 
gitude 11^  30'  56^'.  In  comparing  this  pofition 
with  that  which  would  have  been  given  by  the 
dead  reckoning,  deduced  from  the  obfervations 
made  at  fea  on  the  27th,  it  will  be  found  that, 
in  the  interval  of  fix  days,  the  movement  of  the 
waters  carried  the  fhip,  beyond  her  apparent 
progrefs,  1°  26^  or  about  fixty-fix  miles  to  the 
eaftward,  at  the  fame  time  that  it  carried  her 
thirty-two  miles  to  the  fouthward.  On  approach- 
ing the  Strait  of  Gibraltar,  Captain  Marchand 
expedted  to  experience  the  efie6l  of  an  eafterly 
current;  but  the  movement  of  the  waters  to- 
wards the  fouth  has  a  very  different  caufe  :  if  we 
recoiled:  that  it  was  then  the  beginning  of  Auguft, 
perhaps  we  lliall  be  inclined  to  attribute  this  ac- 
cidental current  towards  the  fouth,  to  the  melting 
of  the  fnow  and  ice  of  Greenland,  Iceland, 
J^APLAND,  Norway,  &cf. 

The  fight  of  Cape  St.  Vincent  having  made 
known  the  true  pofition  of  the  Ihip,  Captain  Mar- 

*  Determinations  taken  from  a  manufeript  communicated  by 
him. 

+  See  Note  LXXIX. 


CHAND 


Aug.  1792.]         MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


209 


CHAND  directed  his  courfe  for  the  Strait  of 
Gibraltar. 

On  the  4thj  at  five  o'clock  in  the  morning,  Cape 
Spart '  L  on  the  coaft  of  Africa  bore  fouth-eaft, 
at  the  diftance  of  two  miles  and  one-third,  efli- 
mated  by  the  eye.  This  cape,  according  to  the 
obfervations  of  Borda,  made  in  1776,  is  fituated 
in  35°  47'  20'^  north  latitude,  and  8°  14^  weft  longi- 
tude :  the  SoLiDE*s  latitude  was  therefore  35°  49' 
and  her  longitude  8^  i6^  If  this  pofition  be  com- 
pared with  that  indicated  by  the  dead  reckoning 
from  the  2nd  at  noon  -,  it  will  be  feen  that,  in  the 
interval  of  one  day  and  feventeen  hours,  the  fhip 
had  been  carried  to  the  eaftward,  beyond  her  ap- 
parent progrefs  towards  that  fide,  37  minutes,  or 
thirty  miles,  and,  confequently,  at  the  rate  of 
feventeen  miles  and  a  half,  or  near  fix  leagues  in 
twenty-four  hours*. 

The  current  towards  the  eaft  runs  here  with  its 
greateft  force  :  confined  between  the  lands  of 
Europe,  which,  from  Cape  St.  Vincent,  ftretch 
from  weft- north- weft  to  eaft-fouth-eaft,  and  thofe 
of  Africa,  which,  from  Cape  Cantin,  extend 
from  fouth-weft  to  north-eaft,  the  waters  difcharge 
themfelves  into  the  wide  mouth  of  a  fort  of  funnel^ 
the  orifice  of  which  is  the  Strait  of  Gibraltar  ; 
and  in  the  Strait  itfelf,  the  current  acquires  the 
rapidity  of  a  great  river  flowing  majeftically  into 


*  NoteLXXX, 
TOI..  II,  P 


the 


21  O 


\      MARCHANDAS  VOYAGÉ.         [Aug.  1792. 


the  Mediterranean,  and  whofe  velocity  aug- 
ments or  diminiflies,  according  as  the  ofcillation 
of  the  tides  raifes  the  waters  or  lowers  them  :  and, 
indeed,  it  is  not  uncommon  for  fliips,  without 
being  affiled  by  the  wind,  fometimes  even  with  a 
wind  contrary  to  the  courfe,  to  be  carried,  in  no 
great  fpace  of  time,  from  the  Atlantic  Ocean 
into  the  Mediterranean. 

At  fix  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  Solide  entered 
-  the  Strait  with  eight  other  veiïels  which  were  fleer- 
ing the  fame  courfe  :  the  currents  carried  her  ra- 
pidly into  the  Mediterranean  -,  and  at  half  paft 
ten,  ihe  was  running  up  it  with  a  free  wind.  In 
ten  days,  lîie  reached  the  coaft  of  France;  and 
on  the  14th,.  at  half  paft  five  o'clock  in  the  even- 
ing, flie  came  to  an  anchor  in  the  inner  road  of 
Toulon,  and  happily  terminated  her  Voyage 
ROUND  the  World. 

The  laft  run  of  the  Solide,  from  the  Ifle  of 
Réunion  to  Europe,  which  is  about  three  thou- 
fand  five  hundred  leagues,  by  the  log,  was  made 
in  one  hundred  and  fifteen  days,  including  a  day 
and  a  half  fpent  at  anchor  off  the  Ifland  of  St. 
Helena  :  thus,  we  may  reckon  that  the  fhip's 
mean  rate  of  failing,  during  this  run,  was  thirty 
leagues  and  a  half  in  twenty-four  hours. 

Captain;  March  an  d's  voyage  is  remarkable 
from  the  fhort  fpace  of  time  which  he  employed 
in  circumnavigating  the  globe,  direding  his  route 
by  Cape  Horn,  and  returning  by  China.  The 

total 


Aug.  1792.]         MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


211 


total  duration  of  the  voyage,  or  the  abfence  of 
the  ihip  from  the  ports  of  France,  was  twenty- 
months  or  fix  hundred  and  eight  days:  but  if  we 
deduél  from  this  number  the  fum  of  the  days  em- 
ployed in  his  ftay  in  port  at  La  Pray  a,  La 
Madre  de  Dios,  Tchinkitanay,  Macao,  and 
at  the  Ifles  of  France  and  of  Réunion,  and  at 
St.  Helena,  amounting  together  to  one  hundred 
and  ten  5  and  about  ten  other  days  loft,  whether 
off  the  Revolution  Iflands,  in  examining  them, 
or  off  the  Sandwich  Iflands,  in  procuring  refrefh- 
ments  there  ;  whether  in  lying  to,  or  in  ftanding 
on  and  off  on  the  coaft  of  Queen  Charlotte's 
Iflands,  while  with  the  long-boat.  Captain  Chanal 
was  vifiting  Cloak  Bay,  Cox*s  Channel,  and  the 
harbours  and  coves  comprehended  between  this 
northern  part  of  the  iflands  and  Rennel's  Chan- 
nel ;  whether,  in  fiiort,  at  anchor  in  the  China 
Sea,  in  Caspar's  Strait,  and  in  that  of  Sunda, 
to  ftop  tide,  when  its  diredlion  was  contrary  to 
the  route  which  it  was  intended  to  hold  ;  there 
will  remain  only  four  hundred  and  eighty-eight 
days,  or  fixteen  months  and  eight  days  for  the 
duration  of  the  voyage  j  and  in  this  fpace  of  time, 
the  fliip,  according  to  the  log-book,  failed  four- 
teen thoufand  three  hundred  and  twenty-eight 
marine  leagues  -,  which  gives,  for  the  mean  day, 
twenty-nine  leagues  four-tenths. 

I  obferve  that  the  fliip  was  not  what  feamen 
call  a  prime  Jailer  :  built  for  refifting  the  fatigues 

p  2  ^  of 


2iZ 


marchand's  voyage.      [Aug.  17920 


of  a  long  voyage,  and  flruggling  againîl  the  waves 
in  bad  v/eather,  fhe  v/as  Solide  in  reality  as  well 
as  by  name;  but  fhe  poffeffed  not  the  qualities 
that  conftitute  a  faft-failing  fhip  ;  and  her  mafts 
and  yards  were  not  in  proportion  to  the  body 
which  her  fails  had  to  move  :  and,  indeed,  in , 
clofely  examining  the  log-book,  we  fee  but  a  very 
fmall  number  of  days  in  which,  with  a  fair  wind, 
and  carrying  a  prefs  of  fail,  the  fhip's  run  ex- 
ceeded forty  leagues.  It  is  not  then  to  the  fwifc- 
nefs  of  her  failing  that  we  muft  attribute  the  fhort- 
nefs  of  her  voyage  ;  but  that  having  always  made 
diredl  courfes,  in  order  to  repair  from  one  place 
to  another,  the  itinerary  length  of  each  run  was 
materially  fhortened.  ,  We  may  fuppofe,  without 
llraining  the.calculation,  that,  under  the  fame  cir- 
cumftances  of  weather,  a  faft-failing  veiTcl  would 
have  obtained  a  mean  fwiftnefs  of  thirty-three 
leagues  in  twenty-four  hours,  and  that,  in  the  fpace 
of  four  hundred  and  thirty-four  days,  fhe  would 
have  run  the  fame  diftance  of  fourteen  thoufand 
three  hundred  and  twenty-eight  leagues,  for  which 
the  Solide  was  obliged  to  employ  four  hundred 
and  eighty  eight. 

It  may  be  remarked  that,  although  Captain 
Marchand  made,  as  I  have  faid,  all  his  runs  by 
diredl  courfes  ;  although,  by  means  of  aftronomi- 
cal  obfervations  which  guarded  him  agalnft  errors 
in  the  route,  he  was  enabled  to  fail  v/ith  fafety 
from  one  place  to  another  by  the  fliorteft  line, 

yet 


Aug.  1792.]         MARCHANDAS  VOYAGI.  213 

yet  he  was  obliged,  in  order  to  circumnavigate 
the  globe,  whofe  circumference  at  the  equator  is 
only  feven  thoufand  two  hundred  leagues,  to  tra- 
verfe  fourteen  thoufand  three  hundred  and  twenty- 
eight  :  that  is  to  fay,  that  he  traverfed,  very 
nearly,  the  equivalent  of  twice  the  circumference 
of  the  earth. 

When  we  have  made  this  remark,  and  we  caft 
our  eyes  on  the  map  of  the  world,  we  fee  that,  if 
the  labour  of  man,  or  one  of  thofe  great  convul- 
lions  which  have  feparated  Calpe  from  Abyla, 
England  from  France,  and  perhaps  to  the 
northward,  America  from  Asia,  fliould  ever,  on 
the  one  hand,  cleave  the  ifthmus  which  joins  the 
great  peninfula  of  Africa  to  the  mafs  of  the  Old 
Continent,  on  the  other,  that  which  of  the  two 
Americas  maizes  one  continued  land,  the  Voyage 
round  the  World  would  be  fhortened  by  one  half  ; 
and  the  time  required  for  the  circumnavigation  of 
the  globe  would  not  exceed  feven  or  eight  months; 

And  we  fliould  be  wrong  to  fuppofe  that  to 
open  a  paflage  by  water  acrofs  both  continents,  if 
not  to  fhipping,  at  leafl:  to  merchandife,  is  a  work 
above  human  power,  and  the  means  of  which  it 
is  given  us  to  difpofe.  The  unanimous  teftimony 
of  the  hiftorians  of  antiquity  and  that  of  the  Arabic 
authors  permit  us  not  to  doubt  that  there  has 
exifted  a  canal,  by  which  the  Mediterranean 
and  the  Nile  communicated  with  the  Arabian 

p  J  Gulf 

i 


âl4  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.         [Aug.  I792» 

GuLF  or  Red  Sea*.  And  why  fhould  not  this 
communication  be  again  opened  ?  Who  can  now 

be 

*  The  ancient  communication  of  the  Mediterranean  with  the 
'Red  Sea  has  frequently  been  an  objed  of  inquiry  among  hiftorians 
and  geographers.  We  find  in  the  Mémoires  de  V Acadim'te  des 
Sciences  (of  the  year  1702,  pages  83  and  following  of  VHiJioire) 
that  M.  Boutiery  Conful  of  France  in  Egypt,  in  examining  the 
difpofition  of  the  Delta  at  the  beginning  of  this  century,  re- 
marked the  end  of  a  canal  iffuing  from  the  eaftern  branch  of 
the  Nile  :  and  this  obfervation  was  feized  by  the  learned  Guil^ 
laume  Delijle  who  judged  that  this  end  of  a  canal  muft  have 
been  that  which  anciently  formed  the  communication  of  the 
Mediterranean  and  the  Nile  with  the  Red  Sea, 

As  this  ancient  communication  (fays  Fontenelle,  the  Hifto. 
rian  of  the  Academy),  which  M.  Dejlile  eftablifhed  for  an  un- 
queftionable  fad,  is  unknown  at  this  day  even  to  feveral  of 
the  learned,  they  were  very  glad  to  fee  the  proofs  that  he  had 
of  it  ;  and  he  gave  them  fo  clear,  and  taken  from  places  fo 
well  known,  that  all  the  difficulty  is  to  afcertain  why  every 
one  has  not  remarked  them  ?'* 

We  have,  perhaps,  more  reafon  at  this  day  than  they  had  in 
the  year  1702,  to  be  'very  glad  to  fee  theje  proofs  :  there  are  cir- 
cumftances  which,  by  a  feries  of  comparifons,  give  things  the 
moft  ancient  the  attraction  and  intereft  of  novelty;  we  have  a 
curiofity  to  know  what  has  been  done  at  another  time,  when  we 
are  anxious  to  know  what  might  ftill  be  done. 

Deflile  has  drawn  from  the  hiftorians  of  antiquity  and  the 
Arabic  authors  the  proofs  which  he  gave  to  the  Academy  of 
Sciences  ;  I  take  them  from  the  Hifiory  of  that  Society  ;  and  it 
will  be  fufficient  to  mention  the  principal  ones. 

Herodotus  (Book  II)  fays  that  there  was  in  the  plain  of  Egypt, 
a  canal  cut  a  little  above  the  city  of  Bubafiisf  and  below  a  moun- 
tain that  ran  towards  Memphis  ;  that  this  canal  extended  very  far 
from  weft  to  eaft  ;  that  afterwards  it  turned  oft'  to  the  fouth, 
and  extended  to  the  R,ed  Sea*    According  to  hiift,  this  work 

beguq 


Aug.  Î792.]         MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE,- 


215 


be  made  to  believe  that  the  Moderns  cannot  ac- 
compiifh  what  it  was  poffible  for  the  Ancients  to 

perfojm  ? 


begim  and  abandoned  by  Nechosy  Ton  of  P/ammetkhus,  was  re- 
fumed  and  completed  by  Darius  fon  of  Hyftafpes  :  two  gallics 
could  pafs  there  abreafl.  ( Pfammetichm  afcended  the  throne  670 
years  before  Chrill,  and  reigned  55:  years  :  J) anus,  522  years 
before  Cbrift.) 

Diodorus  (in  the  firft  book  of  his  BibliothecaJ  gives  a  defcrip- 
tion  of  the  canal,  which  agrees  with  that  of  Herodotus,  from 
which  it  differs  only  in  his  caufing  the  canal  to  be  left  imper- 
fect by  Darius,  to  whom  fome  very  unlkilful  engineers  repre- 
fented  that  the  Red  Sea,  being  higher  than  Egypt,  would  inun- 
date it,  and  in  his  caufing  it  not  to  be  finifhed  but  by  Ptolemy 
Philadelphus  :  he  adds  that  the  canal  could  be  opened  and  fhut 
.according  as  it  was  necelTary  for  navigation,  f  Ptolemy  began 
to  reign  285  years  before  Chrift.)  We  (hall  not  here  enter  into 
a  chronological  difcuiîion  :  the  canal  has  exifted,  the  two  hifto^ 
rians  agree  on  this  point  ;  but  at  what  time,  or  under  what  reign 
was  it  finifhed  ?  This  is  rather  a  matter  of  indifference  as  to 
the  queflion  on  which  we  are  occupied. 

Strabo  (ifl  Book  of  his  Geography)  agrees  in  all  points  with 
Diodorus,  He  informs  us,  befides,  that  at  the  point  of  the  gulf 
which  is  called  the  Red  Sea,  were  two  cities  Heroopolis,  and 
Arfmoe^  alfo  named  Cleopatris  ;  and,  fpeaking  of  the  expedition 
made  into  Arabia  by  JEUus  Gallus,  the  firfl  governor  of  Egypt 
for  the  .  Romans,  he  fays  that  Gallus  caufed  veffels  to  be  built 
.near  an  ancient  canal  branching  from  the  Nile, 

Ehnanciyius,  an  Arabic  author  (Book  I,  Chapter  III)  fays  that, 
under  the  Caliph  Omar,  about  the  year  635  of  the  Chriflian  Era, 
a  canal  was  made  for  the  conveyance  of  corn  from  Egypt  into 
Arabia  ;  and  it  is  probable  that  he  did  no  more  than  repair 
the  old  one,  the  navigation  of  which  might  pofTibly  have  been 
abandoned  in  the  decline  of  the  Roman  Empire.  But,  in  the 
year  150  of  the  Hegira  (735  of  the  Chriftian  Era)  Abugiafar 
Almanzor,  the  fécond  caliph  of  the  AhbaJJides^  caufed  the  canal 
to  be  flopped  up  towards  the  fea. 

p  4  ^*  After 


2l6 


marchand's  voyage.       [Aug.  1792. 


perform  ?  Asia  may  again  be  approximated  to 
Europe,  from  which  the  difcovery  of  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope  feems,  as  it  v>/ere,  to  have  ihcreafed 
its  diflance  :  commerce  may  again  open  ancient 
routes,  the  track  of  which  is  not  fo  effaced  that 
we  cannot  find  it  again  -,  its  operations  may  acquire 
an  adlivity  which  they  will  never  obtain  while  that 
-long  circumnavigation  of  Africa  to  which  they 
are  fubjed,  fhali  be  the  only  prad'cicable  route  by 
which  we  can  maintain  commercial  communica- 


After  this,"  fays  the  hiftorian  of  the  Academy,  "  we  may 
difpenfe  with  fome  authorities  which  have  alfo  been  mentioned 
^'  by  M.  Del'tjle.    Every  one  is  acquainted  with  the  intention 
*^  which  fome  princes  had  had  of  eftablifhing  a  communication 
between  the  Med'tterrmiean  and  the  Red  Sea  ;   every  one 
knows  that  it  was  overfet  by  the  chimerical  fear  of  an  inun- 
dation;   and  as  if  moft  readers  had  been  ftruck  by  the  fame 
fear,  they  have  not  feen  in  authors  the  entire  execution  of  the 
**  canal.    If  ever  this  junftion  be  renewed,  the  face  of  the  world 
<^  would  be  changed;  China  iind  France^  for  infiance,  would 
become  neighbours  ;  and  v/e  ihould  lament  the  deftiny  of  thofe 
*^  barbarous  ages  in  which  Europeans  were  obliged  to  make  the 
tour  of  Africa  in  order  to  go  to  AJta," 

y.  y.  Oberlinus,  who  has  given  a  complete  Treatife  on  the 
junftion-canals  of  rivers  and  feas  in  all  ages,  mentions  and 
learnedly  difcuffes  every  thing  that  relates  to  the  canal  of 
Ptolemy,  and  difpels  all  the  doubts  which  may  ever  have  arifen 
refpeding  the  ancient  communication  fi-om  the  Mediterranean 
and  the  Nile  to  the  Red  Sea  (See  Jun^endorum  Mar  mm  Flu- 
ru'iorumque  omnls  Mt't  Molbnina.  Aud,  Jer.  Jua.  Oherllnus,  SiC, 
Argentorati.  1775,    ..to  edition,  pages  39  to  47.) 

The  reader  may  alfo  confult  the  Dejcri^t'mt  de  V Egypte  by 
Mailkt, 

tions 


Aug.  1792.]      marchand's  voyage. 


217 


tions  between  the  contiguous  lands  of  the  eaft  and 
weft  parts  of  the  Old  World*. 

On  the  fide  of  the  New,  we  fliall  not  require  a 
cut  to  be  made  in  the  mountains  which  form  the 
ifthmus  of  Darien,  that  bridge  of  communica- 
tion between  the  two  Americas;  we  have  loft 
both  the  fecret  of  Hercules  and  that  of  Hanni- 

*  The  following  pafiage,  which  we  have  taken  from  that 
jnuch-admired  publication,  the  Precis  des  E'vhtemens  Militaires^ 
muft  diffipate  every  exifting  doubt  as  to  the  lituation  of  the  canal 
between  the  Red  Sea  and  the  Nile,  and  convince  the  reader  that, 
fliould  the  French  retain  polTefTion  of  Egypt,  nothing,  within  the 
compafs  of  human  ability,  will  be  left  unattempted  to  reftore  the 
long-loft  communication  between  the  Red  Sea  and  the  Méditer^ 
vanean. — -Tranjlator, 

The  folution  of  this  problem,  the  exillence  of  the  canal, 
which  had  joined  the  Red  Sea  to  the  Mediterranean,  particu- 
larly  occupied  Buonaparte  ;  towards  the  end  of  November, 
1 799,  he  had  detached  under  the  command  of  General  Bon,  a 
corps  of  1 500  men,  which  had  taken  poifeflion  of  Sucx.  ;  on 
the  26th  of  December,  he  went  thither  in  perfon,  accompanied 
by  Monge  and  Berthollet  ;  he  firft  took  a  very  particular  furvey 
of  the  town,  and  adjacent  coaft,  ordered  the  conftruélion  of 
fome  new  works,  provided  for  the  defence  of  this  important 
poft,  and  made  various  arrangements  favourable  to  commerce. 
In  order  to  remove  the  remaining  doubts,  Buonaparte^ 
"  having  afcended  the  north  coaft,  difcovered  the  entrance  of 
the  canal,  and  followed  it  for  the  fpace  of  four  leagues.  Then 
*f  paffing  through  Fort  d'Algerond,  croiTmg  the  defert,  and  re- 
turning  by  Belheïs,  he  again  found,  in  the  Oajls  of  Honoreh, 
the  veftiges  of  the  canal  of  Suez,,  at  its  entrance  into  the  cui- 
"  tivated  and  watered  lands  of  Lo<njoer  Egypt  :  having  thus  in- 
difputably  afcertained  the  two  ilTues,  he  charged  Fey  re,  engi- 
"  neer  of  bridges  and  highways,  to  take  the  level  of  if,  begin- 
ning  his  operations  at  Suez."    (See  the  Precis  des  E'vènemens 
Militaires,  No,  IX,  pages  213  and  214.) 

BAL  I 


Sl8  MARCH  AN  d's  VOYAGE.         [Augi  I792. 

BAL  ;  but,  on  the  infpe(5lion  of  the  lands  which 
are  fituated  about  thirty  leagues  to  the  north-weft 
of  this  rocky  ifthmus,  and  on  the  fuppofition  that 
the  coaftsof  this  part  of  the  continent,  as  well  on 
the  eaft  fea  as  on  the  weft,  are  difpofed  and 
fafhioned  as  the  Spanilli  charts  reprefent  them  to 
us,  it  is  not  fpeaking  at  random,  perhaps,  to  fay 
that  if  fkilfui  engineers  were  at  liberty  to  put  in 
practice  the  means  which  the  ftudy  of  hydraulics 
and  mechanics  afford  them,  they  would  contrive 
to  render  navigable  the  river  San  Juan,  the  mouth 
of  which  is  fituated  on  the  eaft  coaft  of  the  Pro- 
vince of  Nicaragua,  on  the  Atlantic  Ocean, 
and  which  communicates  by  its  fource  with  the 
great  lake  of  that  name,  which  itfeif  communi- 
cates with  the  West  Sea  or  the  Great  Ocean, 
by  the  fork  of  Rio  Partido  (the  divided  River) 
a  branch  of  which  appears  to  have  its  mouth  in  the 
Gulf  of  Nicaragua,  and  the  other  in  that  of  el 
Papagayo,  which  belongs  to  the  great  fea*.  And 

it 

*  The  projeft  of  the  junftlon  of  the  two  Teas,  by  the  river 
San  Juan  and  the  lake  of  'Nicaragua  has  prefented  itfeif  at  all 
times  to  thofe  who  have  eaft  an  obfcrving  eye  on  the  continent 
of  America  ;  and  if  the  Spanifh  government  have  not  attempted 
the  execution  of  it,  undoubtedly  it  is  not  becaufe  they  have  not 
2  knowledge  of  it  of  a  date  as  old  as  their  poiTeffion  of  the  country. 
Their  attention  muft  have  been  roufed  anew  by  the  inftruétive 
Memoir  which  a  French  citizen,  Martin  de  la  Bafiide^  publiihed 
in  1 79 1,  under  the  title  of  Mémoire  fur  iin  iSounjeau  Pajfnge  de 
la  Mer  du  Nord  à  la  Mer  du  Sud  {Paris  Dtdotjy  and  in  which 
he  has  like  an  intelligent  mao;,  and  with  the  zeal  of  conviction, 

difculTed 


Aug.  1792.]         MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


219 


it  may  even  be  prefumed  that  the  labours  which 
would  be  required  by  the  diredion  of  a  canal,  in 
order  to  effe6t,  in  this  part,  the  junftion  of  the 
two  oceans  that  furround  the  two  continents, 
would  not  furpafs,  would  not  equal  perhaps,  thofc 
which  our  RiQUET*executed  fo  fkilfully  for  crolTing 

France 


difcufied  the  poflibility  and  the  advantages  of  a  communication 
between  the  two  oceans.    The  Memoir  was  not  favourably  re- 
ceived by  the  cabinet  of  Madrid,  and  this  might  well  be  ex- 
pected.   Every  man  who  takes  an  intereft,  from  any  motive 
whatever,  in  the  facility  and  extenlion  of  navigation  and  com- 
merce, muft  oifer  up  prayers  that  the  author  of  the  advertife- 
ment,  which  precedes  the  memoir,  may  have  rightly  judged 
when  he  fays,  that  ^'  it  is  impoiîible  that  Spain  can  longer  refift 
the  necelTity  of  opening  a  communication  between  the  two 
feas  ;  and  that  if  her  own  intereft  be  not  capable  of  deter- 
mining  her,  the  inftances  of  all  nations  muft  end  by  com- 
pelling  her  to  it.'*    Let  us  accept  the  augury  ;  but  let  us  not 
wait  for  circumnavigating  the  globe,  till  the  projed  be  executed, 
otherwife  we  might  be  condemned  never  to  circumnavigate  it 
at  all. 

*  Juftice  here  demands  from  us  a  candid  obfervation.  F, 
Andreojfy  was  the  firft  who  conceived  the  idea  of  the  Canal  of 
Languedoc,  which  was  not  only  planned  by  him,  but  entirely 
completed  under  his  immediate  direftion.  He  communicated  his 
plan  to  Riquet,  who  prefented  it  to  the  great  Colbert,  and,  as 
foon  as  it  had  received  the  fanftion  of  Louis  XIV,  became  the 
contractor  for  all  the  works  of  that  celebrated  undertaking, 
which  he  did  not  live  to  fee  finifhed.  However,  in  this,  as  in 
many  other  inftances  of  the  like  nature,  Riquef,  not  contend 
with  thence  deriving  every  advantage  of  honours  and  emolument, 
greedily  fnatched  from  the  original  projedor  the  meed  of  fame, 
fo  juftly  merited  by  the  unremitting  labour  of  thirty  long  years. 
Pf  the  truth  of  thefe  faéls  we  have  the  proofs  now  before  us, 

in 


220 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.         [Aug.  I792. 


Frange  by  the  canal  that  joins  the  Mediterra- 
nean to  the  Atlantic  Ocean  ;  nor  thofe  which 
the  Swedes  have  undertaken,  for  eftablifhing  an 
interior  communication  between  Gothenburg  and 
Stockholm,  between  the  Catteg  at  and  the  Bal- 
tic 3  nor  thofe  which  Peter  the  Great  and  his 
fucceflbrs  have  partly  terminated,  partly  begun,  for 
making  a  communication  between  the  Caspian 
Sea,  the  Black  Sea,  the  Baltic,  and  the  White 
Sea  :  and  the  expenfe  of  thefe  labours,  for  ever 
ufeful,  would,  no  doubt,  be  inferior  to  that  oc- 
cafioned  by  a  fingle  war  in  Europe^  which  deftroys 
by  the  fword  a  million  of  its  inhabitants,  and  re- 
duces a  ftill  greater  number  to  wretchednefs. 

But  it  is  not  Nature  that  would  oppofe  the 
greatefl  obftacles  to  thefe  enterprizes  calculated  to 
render  the  age  illuftrious,  and  do  honour  to  the 
governments  to  which  all  nations  Ihould  owe  fuch 
a  benefit.  The  obftacles,  in  the  Old  World,  are 
conne6led  with  the  dijfficulty,  perhaps  infurmount- 
able,  of  carrying  thé  canal  that  fhould  communi- 
cate from  the  Nile  to  the  Red  Sea,  acrofs  thofe 
unfortunate  regions,  alternately  laid  wafte  by  def- 
potifm  and  anarchy,  which  are  placed  at  too  great 
a  diftance  from  the  Sublime  Porte,  for  the  looks 
of  a  Sultan,  if  ever  he  look,  to  be  able  to  reach 


in  a  work  entitled  Hljîoire  du  Cmtal  du  Midi,  recently  publlftiedi 
and  obligingly  communicated  to  us  by  a  friend  of  the  author^ 
General  AndreoJJy^'-^^TranJlatQrt 

them, 


Aug.  1792.]      marchanb's  voyage. 


22Ë 


them,  and  for  the  firmans  of  his  Highnefs  to  be 
carried  into  execution  ;  and  in  which  we  fee  the 
numerous  chiefs  who  lliare,  if  not  the  property, 
at  leaft  the  enjoyment  of  them,  often  in  rebellion 
againft  the  fupreme  authority,  and  always  rivals 
among  themfclves,  difputing  with  each  other  who 
fhall  impofe  the  heavieft  tax  on  the  merchandife 
which,  on  the  backs  of  camels,  fucceflively  tra- 
verfes  the  different  diilriéls  that  each  of  the  op* 
prefîbrs,  in  his  turn,  caufes  to  feel  the  weight  of 
his  avarice  and  tyranny  *.  In  the  New  World,  a 
different  caufe  produces  a  fimilar  effe6t  :  the  fufpi- 
cious  policy  of  the  power  that  poffeffes  exclufively 
the  mines  of  Mexico  and  Peru  will  never  allow 
the  commerce  of  other  nations  to  open  itfelf  a 
road  through  poffeffions,  the  knowledge  of  which  ^ 
it  would  wilh  to  conceal  from  every  eye  :  in  thofe 
countries,  the  prefence  of  a  ftranger  is  confidered 
as  a  national  peril. 

If  political  diforder  which  reigns  on  the  one 
hand,  if  uneafy  jealoufy  which  watches  on  the  i 
other,  feem  to  refufe  that  our  globe  fliould  be 
circumnavigated  from  eaft  to  weftj  Nature,  on  her 
fide,  has  not  chofen  that  it  fhould  be /o  from  fouth 
to  norths,  either  in  the  Atlantic  Ocean  between 
Greenland  and  Lapland  ;  or  in  the  Great 
Boreal  Ocean,  between  America  and  Asia  by  ^ 

*  The  reader  will  readily  perceive  that  the  French  were  not 
in  polTeffion  of  Egypt  when  this  paflage  was  written. — Tranjla^^ 
tor. 

Beering's 


222  MARCHAND's  VOYAGE.  [Aug.  1792. 

Beer  I  no's  Strait.  Every  one  is  acquainted  with 
the  fruitlefs  attempts,  begun  upwards  of  three 
hundred  years  paft,  abandoned  and  refumed  at  dif- 
ferent periods,  to  open,  by  the  north- eafi  and  north- 
wejfy  a  paflage  whence  it  was  fuppofed  (which, 
however,  is  problematical,  at  leaft  in  regard  to 
the  north-eaft  fide)  that  fhips  might  repair  to 
China  and  the  East  Indies  by  a  fhorter  route 
than  that  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  or  that  of  ' 
Cape  Horn:  but  perpetual  ice  obflrufts  the  feas 
which  border  on  either  pole  ;  and  all  human  in- 
duilry,  all  efforts  are  unavailing  againft  this  ob- 
ftacle. 

Let  us  refolve  then  to  traverfe  fourteen  or  fifteen 
hundred  leagues,  in  order  to  fail  round  the  world, 
^  fince  it  has  pleafed  the  archite6t  of  worlds  to  give 
it  only  feven  thoufand  two  hundred  leagues  of  cir- 
cumference ;  we  fliall  return  to  the  projedl  of 
fhortening  the  route,  if  ever  men,  brought  back 
to  the  principle  of  Nature,  and  confidering  them- 
felves  as  one  great  family  whofe  common  habita- 
tion is  our  globe,  at  length  confent  to  a  commu- 
nity of  territory,  and  to  a  univerfal  and  perpetual 
peace  ,  but  the  philofopher  who  ftudies  mankind, 
and  meditates  on  their  hiftory,  will  not  exped  that 
this  pleafmg  dream  of  the  good  Abbé  de  Saint- 
Pierre  can  ever  be  realized. 

I  fhali  not  conclude  this  account  of  Captain 
Marchandas  voyage,  without  paying  to  his  me- 
mory the  tribute  of  praife  that  is  due  to.  him, 

on 


MARCH  and' s  VOYAGE. 


223 


on  more  accounts  than  one,  for  his  whole  conduft 
in  the  expedition  which  he  dire6ted  as  a  com- 
inander^  and  in  which  he  was  ably  feconded  by 
the  intelligence  and  talents  of  Captains  Masse  and 
Chanal,  by  the  zeal  and  adivity  of  the  reft  of 
his  officers,  by  the  good-will,  fubordination,  and 
diligence  of  all  the  feamen  employed  under  his 
orders.  Merchants  and  fhip-ov/ners  would  have 
reafon  to  congratulate  thcmfelves,  and  might  be 
cafy  as  to  the  fuccefs  of  their  undertakings,  if  the 
captains  to  whom  they  intruft  their  interefts,  ac- 
quitted themfelves  of  their  employment,  like  thofe 
belonging  to  the  Solide,  with  the  vigilance  which 
forefees  dangers  without  fearing  them  ;  the  pru- 
dence which  calculates  and  prevents  accidents  ; 
the  experience  which  knows  how  to  repair  them  ; 
and  the  perfeverance  which  ends  by  mattering  ob- 
ftacles  :  yet,  unfortunately,  it  is  but  too  common 
to  fee  unlkilfulnefs  and  carelefnefs  expofe,  at  once, 
both  the  fortune  of  the  employer  and  the  fafety  of 
the  crew. 

The  run  of  three  thoufand  five  hundred  leagues, 
which  Captain  Marchand  made,  in  the  fpace  of 
four  months,  from  thelfle  of  France  to  Toulon, 
without  putting  into  any  port  on  the  route  (for  we 
cannot  reckon  fuch  a  ftay  of  thirty-fix  hours  at  St. 
Helena),  is  an  çxample  to  prefent  to  our  cap- 
tains, who,  for  the  moft  part,  would  think  that 
they  could  not  repair  diredly  from  India,  or  the 
Isle  of  France,  to  a  port  in  Europe  without 
6  touching 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


touching  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  where  the 
defire  of  procuring  a  wine  in  high  requeft  in 
France,  the  agreeablenefs  of  the  place,  the 
charms  of  fociety,  and  the  pi6lure  of  plenty^  de- 
tain them  beyond  the  time  required  by  the  wants 
of  the  fhip  -y  without  refleding  that,  to  ftay  in  a 
foreign  port,  is  to  pay  a  voluntary  tribute  to  the 
nation  to  which  it  belongs,  f  (ball  alfo  quote  to 
them  the  firft  run  of  four  thoufand  three  hundred 
leagues,  from  Marseilles  to  the  Marquesas  de 
Mendoça,  the  duration  of  which  was  fix  months, 
and  in  which  rhe  voyage  was  interrupted  only  by 
a  ftay  of  feventy  hours  in  La  Pray  a  Bay,  in 
order  to  procure  water  and  refrefhments. 

Commanders  iefs  zealous  might  objed  that 
humanity  didates  the  necefîity  of  often  putting 
into  port  and  aliov/ing  feamen  frequent  opportu- 
nities of  repofe  ;  and  that  it  is  unavoidable,  in  the 
courfe  of  long  runs,  for  the  crew  to  efcape  the 
attacks  of  the  fcurvy,  the  progrefs  of  which  it  is 
fb  difficult  to  Hop,  when  it  has  once  found  its  way 
into  a  fhip.  I  know  that,  in  fad,  the  ancient  na- 
vigators have  had  a  melancholy  experience  of  this^ 
and  that  the  wifh,  fo  natural  to  man,  to  endeavour 
to  be  acquainted  with  the  différent  parts  of  the 
globe  which  he  inhabits,  has  coft  a  great  number 
of  its  inhabitants  their  lives  -,  but  I  know  too  that, 
when  in  the  age  in  which  we  live,  we  fee  a  fimilar 
calamity  renewed,  it  can  be  attributed  only  to  the 
carelefnefs  of  the  captain  who  has  negleded  the 

prefer- 


MARCHAND 's  VOYAGg. 


prefêrvation  of  his  companions  of  fortune,  or  to 
the  avarice  of  the  owner  who  has  not  fiipplied  his 
ihip  with  thofe  antifcorbiiticsj  at  this  day  fo  well 
known,  with  thofe  efficacious  prefervatives,  the 
ufe  of  which  Dodor  Pringle  in  England^  and 
Dodor  Poissonnier  in  France,  have  introduced 
on  board  fbips,  with  a  fuccefs  which  to  them  has 
been  the  mod  grateful  as  well  as  the  moft  honour- 
able reward  for  their  zeal  and  refearehes.  It  is 
with  thefe  aids,  that  Captain  Cook  preferved  his 
crews  in  the  longeft  runs,  and  in  climates  the  moil 
dreaded  on  account  of  the  excefs  of  the  heat  or 
the  feverity  of  the  cold  ;  it  is  with  thefe  fame 
means,  that  La  p£ rouse,  after  two  years  of  the 
moil  laborious  navigation,  did  not  reckon  a  fmgle 
fick  man  on  board  the  two  frigates  employed  in 
his  expedition  *. 

Nothing  had  been  forgotten  that  could  contri- 
bute to  the  well-being  of  the  Solide*s  crev/,  and 
deftroy  the  germ  of  the  diforder  peculiar  to  fea- 
faring  people:  in  this  refped,  juft  encomiums 
and  thanks  arc  due  to  the  firm  of  Baux,  of  Mar- 
seilles, who,  after  having  conceived  the  projed 
of  the  firft  expedition  which  the  trade  of  France 
diredted  towards  the  north-west  coaft  of  Ame- 
rica, had  employed  themfelves  with  paternal  fot 
licitude  in  providing  their  fhip  v/ith  all  the  prefer- 

*  See  Vol.  I.  pages  29  and  30  what  )au  been  faid  conceining 
the  duration  of  thefe  runs. 


VOL,  If, 


vatives 


I 

226  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  | 

i 

vatives  calculated  for  prote(5ling,  from  the  deftruc-  ; 
tive  fcourge  of  feamen,  thofe  valuable  men^  who:>  | 
after  having  bravely  defended  the  flag  of  their  j 
nation  againft  its  enemies,  devote  themfelves  during  i 
peace,  to  the  profefTion  more  perilous  than  lucra- 
tive, of  enriching  their  country  by  commerce. 
The  beneficent  views  of  the  houfe  of  Baùx  were 
perfe6lly  feconded  by  Surgeon  Rob  let,  of  whom 
they  had  made  choice  to  v/atch  particularly  over 
the  health  of  the  Ihip's  company  :  he  joined  to 
all  the  theoretical  and  pradical  knowledge  of  his  1 
art,  that  fentimenc  of  humanity  which  renders  a  ! 
medical  man  fl<:ilfui  in  making  up  for  what  he  has 
not,  in  inventing  means  of  relief,  in  creating  re- 
medies*, and  in  infuring  their  fuccefs  by  a  perfe- 

vering 

*  I  have  thought  that  it  would  be  ufeful  for  the  information 
of  the  officers  of  health  who  devote  themfelves  to  ftiare  the 
fatigues  of  feamen,  to  give  an  account  of  the  treatment  which 
Surgeon  Rob  let  introduced,  and  employed  with  the  greateft  fuc- 
cefs, for  flopping  in  a  man  belonging  to  the  crew,  the  progrefs 
of  the  fcurvy,  which,  when  the  SoUde  quitted  the  Sandnvich 
Iflands,  had  manifefted  itfelf  in  this  individual,  with  the  moft 
threatening  fymptoms,  fo  much  as  to  announce  a  very  fpeedy. 
difTolution  :  already,  at  the  mere  approach  of  land,  three  of  hi? 
teeth  had  fuddenly  fallen  out.  The  treatment  of  which  he  mada 
ufe  and  which  fucceeded,  confills  in  the  employment  of  the  /and- 
lath,  dry  and  hot.  The  dry  baths  were  known  to  the  ancients, 
who  employed  fand,  fait,  and  millet-feed,  Cornélius  Celfiis,  of 
the  Cornelia  family,  and  phyfician  to  Atiguftusy  haS  partioilarly 
treated  of  thefe  forts  of  baths  [d).    In  our  days,  they  are  known 

anji 

(a)  Sudor  et  I  am  (fays  he)  duobus  mod!:  fltcUur^  aut  Jicco  calore,  aui  balnea  t 
ficcus  calor  eji  et  arena  ca/idetf  el  /aconicit  et  clibanif  i^c,    Fomenfa  quoqut 

"  caFida 


Marchandas  voyage*  227 

Vefïng  Vigilance  in  obferving  their  effe6ls.  He 
obtained  the  reward  due  to  his  talents,  his  a6live 

folicltude 


and  employed^  on  the  coaft  of  Africa,  and  in  the  Wejî  India 
colonies,  for  certain  diforders  of  the  negroes,  who  are  buried 
up  to  the  neck  in  fand  which  the  fan  has  ftrongly  heated.  I 
have  read  in  a  manufcript  memoir  of  Rolling  Surgeon-Major 
of  the  Boujfole,  written  in  17  86,  which,  no  doubt,  will  be 
printed  at  the  end  of  the  account  of  La  Péroufe'%  voyage,  that 
the  Americans  who  inhabit  the  north -njoeft  coaftj  towards  the 
latitude  of  58"^  40',  alfo  employ  fand-baths  as  the  moll  efficacious 
cure  for  the  venereal  cipmplaint  which  is  common  on  that  coaft. 
The  aélion  of  the  oblique  rays  of  the  fun  on  the  lands  of  North 
America  not  being  fufficient  to  give  to  the  fand  the  degree  of 
heat  neceffary,  and  procure  copious  fweats,  they  heat,  by  means 
of  artificial  fire,  the  fand  intended  for  the  bath,  as  well  as  the 
pit  dug  to  receive  the  patient,  who,  on  coming  out  of  the 
dry  bath,  waflies  himfelf  in  the  fea  or  in  a  neighbouring  river* 
But,  till  now,  we  have  not  heard  of  this  kind  of  bath  having 
been  made  ufe  of  on  board  fhip,  for  treating,  at  fea,  the  feamen 
among  whom  the  fcurvy  has  attained  its  higheft  degree  of 
malignity. 

Surgeon  Robtet  wifliing  to  try  the  eiFevft'of  the  dry  bath  on 
the  fcorbutic  patient,  nearly  given  over,  as  has  been  already 
mentioned^  caufed  fome  fand  to  be  heated  in  greaat  boiler,  and 
mixecl  with  it  a  quantity  of  cold  fand  fufficient  for  moderating 
the  heat  of  the  former,  and  rendering  it  fupportable.  The  pa- 
tient was  put  into  this  bath,  into  which  he  funk  to  the  middle 
of  his  thighs*  The  weather  was  dry  and  fine  ;  and  at  noon 
RJaumur's  thermometer  rofe  to  25  degrees.  The  patient  was 
left  but  half  an  hour  in  the  fand  ;  his  legs  were  at  that  time 
benumbed  efpecially  the  tendons  of  the  extenfors,  which  Surgeon 
Kohlet  attributed  to  the  irkfome  polition  that  he  had  kept.  He 

caîida  (adds  he)  funt  mîllîuntt  faU  arena  ;  qmdlîbet  eorum  calafaEïum  et  în 
i'lnieum  conjeBum,  See  A.  Cornelii  Celfi  Medicina  Lîbr't  oEioy  ex  recmj\ 

Leon  Targue f  8cq,    Lug,  Bat»  Luchtmàns  1785,  410.  lib,  II.  parag, 

Q  2  jm3-;^e 


228 


makchand's  voyaoe. 


folicitude,  and  the  conflancy  of  his  attention  to  the 
men  with  whofe  prefervation  he  had  been  intrufted. 

In 

i  


made  him  lie  down,  recommending  to  him  to  keep  himfelf  fuf- 
nciently  covered  not  to  experience  the  aélion  of  the  exterior  air. 
After  two  hours'  reft,  the  condition  in  which  he  found  the  pa- 
tient, feemed  to  border  on  a  miracle  ;  no  more  fivelling  ;  no 
more  ftiffnefs,  even  in  the  tendons  ;  the  ecchymofes  aîmoft  dif- 
perfed,  and  become  yellow-iHi  ;  the  foies  of  the  feet,  before  very 
painful,  no  longer  caufing  any  fenfation  ;  in  fhort,  Surgeon  Rohlet 
had  the  fatisfaction  to  fee  his  experiment  greatly  exceed  the 
hopes  which  he  had  conceived  from  it.  A  week's  fand-baths, 
the  fécond  of  one  hour,  and  the  others  of  two,  were  fiifficient  for 
eifefting  the  mod  complete  cure  ;  all  the  fymptoms  of  fcurvy  dif. 
appeared  never  to  return  ;  and  the  man  who  had  been  threatened 
with  finking,  in  a  few  days,  under  the  attacks  of  the  diforder, 
enjoyed,  during  the  laft  ten  months  of  the  expedition,  -the  moft 
perfcd  health. 

"  It  will  be  for  experience,"  fiys  Surgeon  Rohhty     to  make 
known  the  advantages  which  may  be  derived  from  this  treat- 
ment  of  fcorbutic  diforders.   Already  every  thing  announces 
the  greateft  ii:ccefs  :  and  if  it  amVer,  in  all  fubjefts,  to  my 
expeciatiofi,  I  fee  nothing  more  eafy  and  lefs  expenfive,  than 
"  to  provide  every  Hiipwith  an  iron  bathing-tub,  with  a  double 
**  bottom,  in  which  can  be  introduced,  without  danger,  the  fire 
intended  for  drying  and  heating  the  fand,  and  which  can  con- 
tain  the  quantity  fufficient  for  covering  the  legs  and  even  the 
"  loins  of  the  patient.    Commander's  of  fliips  will  take  care, 
"  befides,  to  fupply  themfelves  with  three  or  four  calks  of  fine 
fand  ;  and  I  think  that  that  which  has  been  waHied  by  the 
fea- water,  ought  to  be'preferred  to  that  of  rivers,  becaufe  it 
"  contains  faline  particles,  which  are  tonic.    I  am  perfuaded,^'" 
adds  he,'      that  the  ufe  of  tlie  fand-bath  can  be  extended  with 
advantage  to  the  fwelling  of  the  legs,  which  is  the  confequence 
'*  of  chronic  diforders  ;  to  dropfies  which  are  beginning,  &c. 

The 


marci'iand's  voyagf..  229 

;  In  the  courfe  of  an  expedition  which  lafted  twenty 
months,  in  the  midfb  of  fatigues  and  privations, 

after 


The  fuccefsful  trial  which  Surgeon  Roblet  made  of  thefe  baths, 
in  the  treatment  of  a  fcorbutic  patient  in  whom  the  diforder 
appeared  to  have  attained  the  moft  alarming  period,  will,  I  doubt 
not,  induce  officers  of  health  employed  on  board  ftups,  to  make, 
ufe  of  a  curative  method  which  a  decifive  experiment,  made  hy 
a  good  cbferver,  muft  render  worthy  of  imitation.    But,  at  the 
fame  time,  they  will  confider  it  only  as  an  additional  curative  ; 
s^nd  they  will  not  negled  to  affociate  to  it,  according  as  neceflity 
(hall  indicate,  thofe  which  have  been  already  adopted  in  the 
pradice  of  phyfic,  and  of  which  experience  has  alfo  confecrated 
the  ufe  and  proved  the  falutary  efFeds  :  neither  will  they  negled 
tlie  employment  of  the  other  aids  which  can  exempt  them  from 
recurring  to  mrati'ves  ;  and  furely  they  will  judge  that,  to  pre- 
vent the  fcurvy  in  long  voyages,  they  ought  to  continue  to  em- 
ploy the  prefer'vati've-  whofe  efficacy  is  tried  ;  fuch  as  herbs  and 
legumes  pickled  in  vinegar,  coffee,  muftard,  wort,  lemon  robe, 
&c.  &c,  &c,  as  well  as  fpirit  of  vitriol,  mixed  in  a  flight  degree 
in  the  water  that  ferves  for  the  drink  of  the  crew.    My  objec'l 
is  not  here  to  recall  to  mind  all  the  prefern^ati<ves  known  to  pro- 
feffional  men  ;  but  in  treating  of  this  article,  I  muft  not  forget 
to  place  at  the  head  of  the  lift,  the  moft  powerful,  the  moft  effi- 
cacious of  all,  exceffive  cleanlinefs  :  I  fay  exceffinjcy  becaufe  it 
muft  extend  to  the  moft  minute  particulars,  and  which  might 
appear  exaggerated,  perhaps  even  ridiculous,   to  thofe  whoj 
breathing  all  their  life  the  pure  air  of  our  country-places  or  of 
our  cities,  are  ignorant  to  what  a  degree  the  cleanlinefs  of  a 
Oiip  and  of  the  men  on  board,  afperfions  of  vinegar,  fumigations, 
perfumes,  ventilators,  &c.  are  necefiary,  for  maintaining  in  this 
floating  houfe,  at  once,  a  ftore  room  of  corruptible  provifions, 
a  pig-ftye,^  fheep-pen,  poultry-yard,  and  hofpital,  an  air  that  is 
not  mephitical,  and  does  not  carry  with  it  a  caufe  ever  prefent, 
ever  aéling,  of  difeafe  and  deftruftion.    It  would  be  fuperfluous, 
no  doubt,  to  recommend  to  feampn,  to  add  to  the  prefer-uati'v^.s 
^pd  curative$i  the  ufe  of  legumes,  herbs,  fifti,  meats,  and  other 


230 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE, 


after  having  traverfed  every  climate,  and  expe.^ 
rienced  every  variation  of  temperature^  the  Solide 
loft  only  one  man  out  of  fifty  who  compofed  her 
crew  ;  and  this  man  died  of  a  fpecies  of  apoplexy: 
in  the  ordinary  flate  of  fociety,  more  than  one  in- 
dividual in  fifty  dies  in  the  fpace  of  twenty  months, 
fuppofing  them  to  be  thirty  years  of  age,  which 

is  that  we  mufl:  reckon  for  the  mean  age  of  a  fhip's 
company*. 

The  pieftrvation  of  the  people  and  the  intereft 
of  the  owners  conflantly  fliared  the  folicitude  and 
care  of  Captain  Marchand.  The  former  objeâ: 
he  accomplifhed,  by  the  attention  which  he  paid 
to  the  employment  of  every  means  that  could  con- 
tribute to  maintain  the  good  health  of  the  compa- 
nions of  his  labours;  the  latter  he  fulfilled,  by 
employing  himfelf  afîlduoufly,  in  concert  Vv^ith 
Captain  Chanal,  in  aftronomical  obfervations, 
which,  by  rectifying  the  errors  unavoidable  in  the 


frcQi  provifions,  whenever  the  opportunity,  always  wilhed  for| 
prefents  itfelf  of  piocuring  them  for  the  confumption  of  the 
crew. 

*  It  is  proved,  from  the  calculation  of  the  probabilities  of 
human  life,  founded  on  inquiries  the  moft  numerous  and  the  moft 
cxad,  that,  out  of  five  hundred  individuals  whofe  mean  age  is 
thirty,  fifteen  die  in  the  fpace  of  twenty  months  :  in  following 
this  proportion,  out  of  fifty  individuals  of  the  fame  age,  there 
niuft  die,  in  the  fame  fpace  of  time,  ar  leaft  one,  and  perhaps 
two,  fince  the  calculation  gives  one  and  a  half.  (Note  commu- 
Tiicated  by  Citizen  Dirotllard,  alTociated  member  of  the  National, 
Iftilitute  of  Arts  and  Sciences.) 


dead 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


dead  reckoning,  gave  him  the  advantage  of  being 
able  to  fhorten  his  runs,  and  the  confidence  of 
making  the  land  with  fafet7  and  precifion  at  all  the 
places  at  which  he  propofed  to  touch.  Each  of 
his  land-falls  may  be  quoted  as  a  proof  of  the 
correftnefs  of  his  operations,  at  the  fame  time 
that,  in  order  to  determine  the  longitude,  there  is 
a  neceffity  for  making  ufe  of  thofe  means  fo  long 
wiihed  for,  fo  long  expeded,  of  thofe  new  and 
invaluable  methods,  to  which  a  further  degree  of 
precifion  is  added  by  the  concurrence  of  two  ob- 
fervers,  whofe  obfervations  and  calculations  reci- 
procally control  and  redify  each  other. 

it  may  excite  aftonifliment,  that,  in  concluding, 
I  fhould  recur  to  a  remark,  which,  at  different  pe- 
riods of  the  voyage,  I  have  taken  care  to  bring 
forward  ;  and,  undoubtedly,  there  is  no  one  who  is 
not  perfuaded  that  feamen  have  been  eager  to  pro- 
mote and  employ  methods,  the  advantage  of  which 
is  manifeft,  and  which  are  refults  fet  within  their 
reach,  theories  the  moft  fublime  and  combinations 
the  moft  ingenious.  I  would  wilh  to  have  praifes 
only  to  beftowi  and  it  is  painful,  for  a  Veteran  of 
the  Navy^  to  have  reproaches  to  make  to  thofe  who 
are  engaged  in  the  profeffion  ;  but  I  ûiould  merit 
them  myfelf,  if  a  culpable  referve  induced  me  to 
keep  filence.    It  is  time  to  roufe  French  navi- 
gators from  the  humiliating  apathy  which  keeps 
them  in  the  lhackles  of  an  old  routine^  and  prevents 
them  from  turning  to  account/  for  the  fuccefs  of 

0^4  tha 


.£33  mârchand's  voyage. 

the  enterprifes  that  arc  intrufted  to  them,  and  f6f 
their  own  fafety,  the  difcoveries,  which,  for  half  a 
century  paft,  geometry,  aftronomy,  and  mechanics, 
rivals  in  fuccefs  as  in  labours,  have  added  to  the 
domain  of  the  fciences,  ^nd  the  only  objed  of  all 
which  is  to  infure  and  abridge  the  route  of  the 
navigator.  Will  it  be  believed  that  France  does 
not  reckon  a  hundred  fearaen  (and  I  might  reduce 
the  number  to  much  below  the  half)  who  know 
how  to  employ  at  fea,  the  obfervation  of  the 
moon*s  diftance  from  the  fun  or  ftars;  to  make 
ufe  of  the  machines  proper  for  keeping,  as  m 
truft,  the  time  of  the  place  from  which  the  depar- 
ture is  taken  ;  and  deduce,  from  either  method,  or 
from  the  two  combined  together,  under  what  me- 
ridian, on  a  given  day,  the  flriip  is  arrived  ?  What 
avails  it  that  the  Board  of  Longitude  of  France, 
like  that  of  England,  calculates  with  all  the  pre- 
cifion  required  for  the  perfe6lion  of  thefe  great 
theories,  the  auxiliary  tables  which  facilitate  and 
abridge  the  calculation  of  the  obfervaticiis  ;  and 
that  thefe  tables,  confecrated,  for  the  moil  parr,  to 
the  ufe  of  our  navigators,  are  publiflied,  for  every 
year,  feveral  years  in  advance,  in  order  that  fhips 
intended  for  diftant  expeditions,  may,  on  their  de- 
parture from  Europe,  be  provided  with  them  for 
the  whole  duration  of  the  longeft  voyages  ?  What 
avails  it  that  Ferdinand  Berthoud,  by  opening 
to  the  French  artifts  a  new  career,  by  creating,  for 
the  navy,  an  art  of  clock- making,  which  may  be 

called^ 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE» 


called  tranfcendenty  has  found  means  to  combine  the 
mod  finifhed  execution  with  the  moft  fubtle  theo- 
ry*, and  that  Loui^  Berthoud,  treading  in  the 
fleps  of  Ferdinand,  has,  for  the  ufe  of  feamen, 
multiplied  thofe  ingenious  machines,  mafler-pieces 
of  mcchanifm,  with  which  they  can  daily,  and  fe- 
veral  times  a  day,  folve  the  problem  of  the  lon- 
gitude at  fea,  and,  in  a  little  time,  correft  or 
improve  all  hydrography  ?  What  avails  it  diat 
Borda  has  prefented  to  the  French  navy,  for  ob- 
ferving  at  fea  the  altitudes  and  diftances  of  the 
luminaries,  an  inftrument  which  the  fmallnefs  of 
its  bulk  renders  as  portable,  as  convenient  for  ufe^ 
as  the  excellence  of  its  principles  renders  it  certaia 
and  exad  in  its  refults  ?  What  avails  it,  in  fiiort^ 
that  he  and  our  geometricians  have  applied  themr 
felves  to,  and  fucceeded  in,  finding  methods  of 

*  This  artift.  Member  of  the  National  Inftitute  of  Arts  and 
Sciences,  no  lefs  commendable  from  his  difintereftednefs  than  from 
the  fecundity  of  his  genius,,  has  publilhed,  without  referve,  at 
different  periods^  the  refults  of  his  numerous  refearches  and 
immenfe  labours  refpefting  machines  calculated  for  meafuring 
time,  and  thofe  the  fpecial  purpofe  of  which  is  |p  determine  the 
longitude  at  fea.  In  order  to  make  the  reader  fenfible  of  all 
the  importance  of  this  publication,  it  will  be  fufficiént  to  fay, 
that  an  artift,  named  Armand,  conftrufted  at  Capenhagen,  with- 
out any  other  affiftance  than  the  works  of  Ferdinand  BertJjoud, 
and  the  plates  which  he  has  annexed  to  them,  time-pieces,  of 
which  M.  de  Lo^enornj  Captain  in  the  Danifh  Navy,  a  great 
proficient  in  aftronomy,  made  ufe  with  fuccefs  for  finding  the 
longitude  at  fea.  (See  Ob/ervationes  Afiron.  wftttut^  m  Ohjernjq^ 
tor  10  Regio  Haunienjty  c.  Au8ore  Thoma  Bugge,  ^c.  HaH7ii(t^ 
ï78|.  TypU  Aulcs  Regiœ  4to.  page  XCVIII.) 


marchand's  voyage. 


fimpUfication,  by  the  help  of  which  the  biifinefs  of 
computation  that  remains  for  the  feaman  to  per- 
form, after  his  obfervations  for  the  longitude,  be- 
comes, as  it  were,  only  a  manual  operation,  which 
requires  no  knowledge  of  the  theories,  which  nei^ 
ther  fubjeds  him  to  a  calculation  more  long  nor 
more  difficult  than  that  which  he  daily  impofed 
on  himfelf,  to  learn  by  a  coarfe  approximation 
the  adlual  pofition  of  his  Ihip,  and  to  attain,  by 
a  lame  procefs,  an  erroneous  refult  ?  In  the  period 
at  which  we  are  arrived,  the  arts  and  fciences  have 
left  to  the  feaman  to  perform,  for  the  purpofe  of 
regulating  his  navigation,  only  what  it  was  not 
pofîible  to  do  beforehand,  in  order  to  fave  him 
the  labour  of  it.  And  the  feaman  remains  infenfi- 
ble  before  thefe  produdlions  of  genius,  of  which 
he  was  the  objed  !  And  the  admiration  with 
which  they  ought  to  infpire  him,  can  neither  ex- 
cite his  zeal  nor  his  vanity,  nor  awaken  in  him  the 
fêntiment  of  his  intereft  !  And  the  men  of  fcience 
and  the  artifts,  who  have  devoted  themfelves  with 
equal  fuccefs  and  ardour,  to  thefe  laborious  re- 
fearches,  are  ftill  to  exped  the  only  reward  that 
they  had  annexed  to  their  labours,  the  fatisfadion 
of  feeing  that  thofe  to  whom  they  were  confecrated, 
fliould  haften  to  gather  the  fruits  of  them  ! 

It  is  time  that,  in  this  refpedl,  our  humiliation 
fhould  ceafe  :  the  reign  ot  ignorance  is  long  fince 
pafTed  for  feamen  -,  it  is  no  longer  enough  for  thein 
to  be  brave  warriors,  intrepid  navigators  ;  their 

5  honour^ 


MARCHAND's  VOYAG^t. 


honour,  the  national  honour  impofe  on  them  the 
obligation  of  knowing  that  of  which  it  is  ho  longer 
pardonable  for  them  to  be  ignorant.    If  it;  were 
requifite  for  Frenchmrn  to  be  ftimulated  by  the 
example  of  a  rival  nation,  I  fhould  fay  to  our  na- 
vigators, that  there  is  not  a  fingle  Englifli  captain, 
employed  in  long  voyages,  who  does  notât  this 
day  make  ufe  of  the  new  methods  for  determining 
the  longitude  of  his  fh\p;  I  fliould  fay  to  them  that 
it  is  with  this  help,  that  the  navigation  of  our  ene- 
mies boldly  embraces  the  two  hemifpheres  -,  and 
^that  every  pojnt  of  the  globe  at  which  an  Englifh 
'  Ihip  touches,  now  acquires  a  determined  fituation 
with  refpe6l  to  the  other  points  of  the  earth,  which 
ten  centuries  of  a  navigation  of  routine  would  never 
have  fucceeded  in  fixing.    In  fpeaking  to  feamen, 
I  fhall  not  add  to  views  of  general  utiUty,  the  par- 
ticular motive  of  their  own  prefervation  ;  I  know 
too  well  that,  from  principle  and  habit,  they  def- 
pife  danger  -,  I  know  that,  in  the  height  of  a  ftorm, 
when  the  fea  threatens  to  fwajlow  them  up,  at  the 
fight  of  the  ihoal  againft  which  the  plank  that 
feparates  them  from  the  briny  abyfs  may  be  fplit  in 
pieces,  wholly  occupied  w^ith  the  fafety  of  the  fliip 
intruded  to  their  charge,  one  thought  alone  of  the 
future  can  be  alTociated  in  their  mind  with  the  rapid 
combinations  which  require  the  prefent  effort  of 
all  their  faculties  ;  H^c  olim  meminijfe  juvahlt  i  they 
love  to  prepare  for  themfelves  recollerions.  But 
let  them  learn  to  be  fatisfied  with  the  conflids 

which 


M-ÀRCHAÎS!  d's  voyage. 


which  the  revolted  elements  ceafe  not  to  wage  with 
the  navigator  v/ho  wifhes  to  conquer  them:  let 
their  indifference  not  make  them  difdain  the  helps 
that  are  offered  for  refcuing  them  from  the  dangers 
which  it  is  poffible  to  avoid,  which  it  is  not  glo- 
rious to  brave  :  what  !  will  not  adverfe  fortune 
always  referve  to  herfelf  too  many  for  exercifmg 
nobly  the  courage  of  our  Argonauts,  and  filling 
the  page  of  naval  hiftory  with  the  account  of  thofe 
terrible  events,  which  infure  to  the  fuperior  genius 
who  maflers  them,  the  applaufe  of  the  prefentage, 
and  a  long  remembrance  in  ages  to  come  ? 

Paris  the  20th  Germinal>  year  V.  of  the  French  era* 

(April  9th,  1797.) 

P.  o.  Captain  Chanal*s  journal,  having  clofed 
on  the  arrival  of  the  Solide  in  the  harbour  of  Tou- 
jLON,  could  not  give  an  account  of  the  fuccefs  of 
the  expedition  as  a  commercial  fpeculation ,  but 
fomc  notes  fubfequently  communicated  to  me  by 
the  firm  of  Baux,  have  made  known  the  final  re- 
fult  of  the  adventure.  The  plan  had  been  per- 
fc6lly  well  çonceivedj  and  if  the  prohibition  iiTued 
at  China,  which  could  not  be  forefeen,  had  not 
thwarted  it  in  the  outfet,  the  iliip  flieathed  with 
copper,  and  copper- faflened,  built  and  equipped, 
in  every  refpe6l,  for  keeping  the  fea  for  three  or 
four  years,  without  needing  any  other  repairs  than 
thofe  which  accidents  might  neceffitate,  provided 
with  four  complete  fuits  of  fails  and  four  fets  of 
i  rigging 


MARCHAND's  V0YA02, 


rigging,  with  an  immenfc  ftock  of  provlfions,  and 
anaffortment  of  articles  for  trade  fufficient  for  a 
long  feries  of  operations  *,  might,  after  her  firft 
touching  at  Macao  at  the  end  of  eight  months, 

*  The  houfe  of  Baux,  wifhing  to  be  certain  that  all  the  works 
of  our  manufadories  which  they  intended  to  be  employed  in 
traffic  with  the  Americans  of  the  north-nMeft  coaft,  Ihould  be 
well-conditioned  and  of  the  firft  quality,  thought  that  they 
could  do  no  better  than  intruft  the  houfe  of  GuiUmud  father 
and  fon,  Manufadurers  at  St,  Etienne^  trading  to  Lyotis,  and 
holders  of  a  ihare  in  the  Solide'5  expedition,  with  the  fabrication 
of  all  the  articles  of  hard-ware,  arms  for  the  favages,  tools,  and 
different  implements,  which  the  experience  of  preceding  voyages 
had  indicated  as  proper  to  be  admitted  with  moft  facility  and  ad- 
vantage in  the  fur-trade.    The  houfe  of  GuUliazidf  in  executing 
this  commiffion,  exerted  all  the  intelligence  of  very  well-informed 
and  enlightened  merchants,  and  all  the  zeal  with  which  they 
were  infpired  by  the  importance  of  the  expedition,  the  objeél, 
of  which  was  known  to  them.    But  a  confiderable  demand  for 
halberts  and  other  offenfivc  arms,  the  fabrication  of  which  em- 
ployed feveral  workfhops  fcattered  through  the  country,  could 
not  but  throw  an  alarm  among  ignorant,  i^fpicious,  and  reftlefs 
men,  whom  liberty  had  juft  fuddenly  armed,  and  who  thought 
they  faw,  in  this  coiledion  of  arms,  counter-revolutionary  pre.« 
paratives  and  means.    It  was  net  without  infinite  pains  on  the 
part  of  the  houfe  of  QinUiaud,  nor  without  repeated  danger  to 
their  perfons,  that  after  feven  or  eight  months  oppofition  on  the 
one  hand,  and  perfeverance  on  the  other,  the  municipalities  of 
Lyonsy  St.  Chamonti  and  St.  Etienne ,  to  whom  the  objeél  and  the 
deftination  of  the  arms  were  perfedly  known,  and  who  wiflied 
to  fee  them  difpatched,  at  length  fucceeded  in  calming  the  agi- 
tated minds  of  thefe  men  ;  and,  with  the  fupport  of  a  corps  of 
twelve  hundred  men  which  was  paffmg  through  St.  Chamont, 
fent  off  from  this  commune  and  direéled  towards  Mar/ellhsf 
thofe  terrible  halberts,  of  the  kind  ufed  by  our  parilh-beadles, 
the  fight  alone  of  which  had  fpread  alarm  in  the  town  and  its 
environs. 

have 


Marchandas  voyagé^ 

have  eafily  undertaken,  before  her  return  tô 
France,  two  more  voyages  from  China  to  the 
coafl  of  America  :  and  our  navigators  would  have 
had  the  certainty  of  getting  the  ftart,  at  both  places^- 
of  all  the  veflels  that  might  have  been  difpatched, 
either  from  Europe,  or  from  the  United  States, 
and  of  having  for  competitors  none  but  thofe 
which,  failing  from  the  Ports  of  Asia,  might  have 
been  engaged  in  a  fimilar  fcheme.  On  her  third 
voyage  to  Canton,  they  would  have  converted 
into  teas,  filks,  and  the  other  produ6lions  of  Chi-* 
NA,  the  whole  of  the  produce  of  her  three  trips  : 
and  it  is  impoiïible  to  eftimate  to  what  fum  might 
have  amounted  the  joint  profit  of  thefe  combined 
.operations.  Fortune  ordained  otherwifé  :  the  pro- 
duce of  the  firft  trip  not  having  been  able  to  find 
vent.  Captain  Marchand  gave  up  all  thought 
of  a  fécond  ;  every  farther  operation  was  neceffa- 
rily  flopped  ;  and  as  a  fole  and  wretched  refource, 
the  cargo  of  furs  was  brought  to  France.  It 
was  immediately  fent  to  Lyons,  where  the  com- 
mercial concerns  of  the  place,  and  the  favourable 
feafon  might  promife  no  inconfiderable  advantages 
in  the  fale  -,  but  it  arrived  there  only  a  few  days 
before  the  period  when  that  unfortunate  city,  torn 
by  civil  war,  experienced  all  the  horrors  of  a  long 
fiege  :  in  the  midft  of  fire  and  devaftation,  the  furs 
belonging  to  the  houfe  of  Baux  were  feized  ;  and, 
being ,  forgotten  under  the  feals,  notwithflanding 
their  remonftrances,  which  were  rendered  more 

urgent 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


urgent  by  the  danger  of  delay,  they  became  a 
prey  to  the  worms.  But  the  owners  of  the  Solide^ 
no  Icfs  zealous  for  the  profperity  of  their  country, 
than  difinterefled  in  their  (peculation,  will  think 
themfelves  indemnified  for  the  lofs  of  two-thirds 
of  their  capital,  if  the  new  path  which  they  have 
opened  to  French  merchants,  who,  no  doubt,  will 
take  care  to  engage  in  it  with  prudence,  and  mea- 
fure  their  operations  by  probabilities,  can  one  day 
procure  an  additional  .outlet  for  the  national  in- 
duftry  ;  and,  for  the  State,  a  mean  of  forming,  in 
thofe  long  voyages  which  exercife  courage  and 
ripen  talent,  feamen  who  join  to  the  intrepidity 
that  braves  dangers,  the  experience  that  teaches 
to  avoid  them. 


ENGLISH 


40 


MARCHAND  S  VOYAGE< 


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MARCHAND  S  VOYAGE. 


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MARCHAND  s  VOYAGE. 


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O 

O 


VOCABULARY 


marchand's  voyage. 


VOCABULARY 

OF 

W  A  H  I  T  A  H  6, 

(OR  MENDANA'S  SANTA  CHRISTIANA,) 

ONE  OF  THE 

ISLANDS  OF  THE  ARCHIPELAGO 

OF 

LAS  MARQUESAS  DE  MENDOCA, 


T  HAVE  thought  that  it  would  be  ufeful  to  pre- 
fent,  in  a  comparative  table,  the  Vocabulary 
which  Captain  Cook  has  given  us,  that  for  which 
we  are  indebted  to  John  Reînhold  Forster, 
and  thofe  which  Captain  Chanal  and  Surgeon 
RoBLET  have  feverally  compiled. 

The  reader  will  remark,  in  the  words  which  are 
common  to  the  four  vocabularies,  the  differences 
that  partly  depend  on  the  different  manner  in 
which  they  were  heard,  and  ftill  more  on  the  diffe- 
rent manner  in  which  they  were  written  in  order 
to  fix  their  pronunciation,    I  have  deemed  it  ex- 

.  pedient 


«<54 


MARCHAND*S  VOYAGE. 


i 
I 


pedient  to  preferve  them  fuch  as  each  voyager  has 
reprefented  them,  with  the  articles  and  the  other 
ligns  that  he  has  employed  for  indicating  the  | 
founds  which  he  means  Ihouid  be  emitted  in  pro- 
nouncing them. 

The  vocabulary  of  Captain  Cook  is  taken  from 
the  Table  of  comparifon  of  the  languages  of  the 
iflands  of  the  Gsleat  Ocean,  which  he  has  given 
us  in  the  fécond  volume  of  his  fécond  voyage, 
page  364. 

He  apprizes  us  that  the  double  vowels  in  italics, 
•  oOy  eCy  are  to  be  founded  as  one  :  for  the  French,  00 
reprefent  the  diphthong  ou^  and  ee^  the  long  vowel  u 

The  diarefts  vowels,  that  is  to  fay,  accented 
with  two  points,  are  to  be  pronounced  feparatcly  : 
thus,  in  oe  Englilh,  which  is  oi  for  the  French 
pronunciation,  each  of  the  vowels  is  to  form  a 
fyllable. 

The  accent  placed  before  the  word  indicates  that 
the  chief  ftrefs  in  pronunciation  is  to  be  laid  on 
the  firil  letter  or  fyllable  of  the  word  ;  but  if  the  - 
accent  be  over  the  firft  letter,  or  over  another  letter 
in  the  courfe  of  a  word,  the  ftrefs  is  to  be  laid  on 
the  fyllable  which  immediately  follows  the  accent. 

A  comma  (or  what,  from  its  form,  we  fliould 
call  an  acute  accent),  placed  in  the  middle  of  a 
word,  either  fignifies  that  it  is  compounded  of  two 
words,  or  that  the  fame  fyllable  repeated  forms 
the  word  :  in  both  cafes,  a  fmall  paufe  is  to  be 
6  made 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


made  in  the  place  indicated  by.  the  comma  (or 
accent.) 

A  Frenchman  who  wifhes  to  pronounce,  fo  as  to 
be  underftood  by  a  Mendoqan,  the  names  written  in 
Cook's  vocabulary,  muft  obferve  that  A  Englifli 
there  anfwers  to  A  French — AI  to  Ê — E  to  / — 
O  to  O  —  00  to  OU  diphthong — OU  to  AOU — , 
Y  to  AI. 

Rhinhold  Forster  has  employed,  in  his  vo- 
cabulary, accents  and  other  figns  placed  over  the 
letters  in  order  to  fignify  how  he  ,  wifhes  they 
fliould  be  pronounced  ;  but  he  gives  no  explana- 
tion of  thefe  figns.  I  have  preferved  them  as 
they  are  feen  in  the  original,  without  choofing  to 
venture  to  explain  them  :  I  think,  however,  that, 
by  the  affiftance  of  what  is  faid  in  regard  to 
Cook's  vocabulary,  Forster's  intention  may  be 
divined  *. 

Captain  Chanal  has  made  ufe  of  the  fign  of 
the  Latin  profody,  which  indicates  that  the  fylla- 
ble,  over  which  it  is  placed,  is  long  :  he  has,  be- 
fides,  given  to  the  acute  accent,  to  the  circumflex 
accent,  and  to  the  diarefis  of  the  French  orthogra- 
phy, their  ordinary  fun6tion  with  which  every 
one  is  acquainted.  The  words  of  his  vocabulary 
are  to  be  pronounced  as  if  they  were  written  in 
French,  and  all  the  H\  are  to  be  afpirated. 

Moft  of  the  words,  which  he  has  there  infcrted, 

*  See  /.      Forfter' s  ObfervattonSf  Sec,  page  284, 

were 


mâuchand's  voyage* 


were  collefted  feparately  by  Captain  Marchand 
aiid  himfelf:  the  words  refpedling  which  they 
have  agreed  (and  this  is  the  greater  number)  bear 
no  mark  ;  but  thofe  concerning  which  they  have 
differed,  are  written  jn  the  two  ways  in  which 
they  heard  them  ;  and  each  word  is  followed  by 
the  initial  letter  of  the  name  of  the  obferver  : 
thofe  which  are  marked  with  a  *  were  colledbed 
by  Captain  Chanal,  and  thofe  accompanied  by 
**,  by  Captain  Marchand. 

The  vocabulary  of  Surgeon  Rob  let  is  accented 
for  the  French  pronunciation,  and  mull  be  read  as 
if  the  words  were  French,  but  all  the  H's  muO: 
be  afpirated. 

It  mud  be  obferved,  that  the  Mendoçans,  in 
Ipeaking,  moft  commonly  place  an  A  or  an  E,  and 
fometimes,  but  more  rarely,  an  O,  at  the  begin- 
ning of  a  word  ;  frequently  too  they  fupprefs  it  : 
thefe  vowels,  thus  employed,  appear  to  perform 
the  office  of  an  article  ;  and  it  is  a  cuftom  rather 
general  in  all  the  languages  fpoken  by  the  na- 
tives of  the  iflands  of  the  Great  Ocean,  to 
place  before  words,  and  particularly  proper  names, 
fome  one  of  the  three  vowels^  ^,  Ey  O  :  thus 
in  the  name  0-Taheitee,  one  of  the  Society 
Iflands,  O  is  the  article,  and  Taheitee  the  name 
of  the  ifland,  &c. 

It  may  be  conceived  from   the  Vocabulary, 
although  fo  extremely  concife,  of  the  language  of 
the  Ifland  of  Wahitaho,  that  the  Mendoc^ans 
I  employ 


marchand's  voyage.  257 

employ  no  difficult  articulation,  and  that  their  lan- 
guage, notwithftanding  the  frequent  afpirations, 
and  the  vehemence  with  which  they  are  accuf- 
tomed  to  exprefs  themfelves,  poflelTes  fweetnefs 
and  a  fort  of  harmony. 

See  Vol.  1.  pages  206  to  211. 


VOL,  n. 


VOCABU- 


258  &îarchand'^  voyage» 


Vocabulary 


OF 

ÏCHINKIÏ  AN  AY, 

ON  THE  NORTH-WEST  COAST  OF  AUmiCA,  INTME 
LATFTUDE  OF  57  DEGREES  NORTH,      .  ' 


A  LTHOUGH  thc  Vocabulary,  compiled  by  Sur- 
geon  RoBLET,  differs  very  little  from  that 
drawn  up  by  Captain  Chanal,  it  is  not  altogether 
ufelefs  to  make  them  both  known  :  every  obferver 
has  his  manner  of  writing  words,  and  that  depends 
on  the  manner  in  which  he  heard  them. 

Captain  Chanal,  in  order  to  indicate  the  quan- 
tify of  fome  fyllables,  which  are  long,  has  placed 
above  t-iofe  fyllables  thc  indicative  fign  "  of  the 
Latin  profody  :  "  the  others,"^  fays  he,     are,  for 
**  the  moft  part,  lliorts  and  fome  are  doubtful. 
"  The  G  and  the  K,.  preceded  or  followed  by  m 
"  L,  are  pronounced  with  a  trill,  which  cannot 
"  be  expreffcd  by  any  fign  of  French  writing,  , 
*^  and  which  it  is  impoffible  even  to  imitate,  if 
the  organ  of  fpeech  have  not  been  formed  to  it 
from  infancy.    The  fyllables  cba,  chi,  have  been 
reprefented  by  uba,  tchi,  becaufe  they  are  to  be 
4  "  pro- 


MARCHAND* s  VOYAGÉ. 


^59 


pt-onouncèd  as  the  Italians  pronounce  ce,  ci,  that 

is  to  fay,  tche,  tchi,'*  Captain  Ghanal  alfo  in- 
forms us  that  the  wordâ  which  are  marl^ed  with  a  * 
were  communicated  to  him  by  Siirgcon  Roblet. 

The  latter  obfer^er,  on  his  partj  informs  us, 
fchat  the  words  whofe  quantity  he  has  hot  marked 
by  the  figns  '  or  "  of  the  Latin  profôdyj  eithei- 
wre  not  collected  by  himfelf>  or  were  pronounced 
before  hirrl,  by  different  inhabitants  of  the  country, 
fo  that  he  had  it  not  in  his  power  to  reprefent  the 
pronunciation  of  them  with  the  fame  certainty  ai 
he  has  ddne  in  regard  to  the  words  whofe  quantity 
ht  has  marked;       In  general/'  faj^she,  "  the  na., 

tives  of  Tchinkitanay  have  a  very  guttural 
"  pronunciation,  making  on  the  ^  a  little  tril!^ 

which  cannot  be  expreffed  in  our  language.  Î 
*^  have  endeavoured  to  reprefent  their  pronuncla- 
*^  tion  of  the  which  is  the  iche  of  the  Italians, 
"  but  the  T  of  which  is  conveyed  to  the  ear  in  an 
*^  almoft  imperceptible  manner.    It  will  be  con- 

ceived,  from  the  fhriall  number  of  Words  that  I 

have  been  able  to  eolleél,  and  from  the  varied 
<^  acceptations  which  the  inhabitants  give  to  them, 

that  the  language  of  Tchinkitanay  is  very 

copious.*' 

See  Vol.  I.  towards  the  end  of  Chapter  ÎV. 

N.  B.  Sound  all  the  letters  in  both  vocabulams  i 
pronounce  in  final,  or  in  at  the  beginning  or  in  t'h^ 
middle  of  a  word,  as  if  çhey  were  written  inn,  or 
ine  terminated  by  an  e  mute. 

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ADDITIONS 


ADDITIONS 


TO  THE 

NARRATIVE  OF  THE  VOYAGE, 


-    N,B.  The  imprefiion  of  the  preceding  part  of  j 

the  work  was  completed  before  the  end  of  the  j 

year  VL  (1798)  ;  but  that  of  the  remainder  having  j; 

occupied  a  rather  confiderable  portion  of  time,  I  !' 

avail  myfelf  of  it  in  order  to  infert  here  fbme  ji 

Additions  that  have  been  occalioned  by  the  recent  p 

publication  of  two  voyages  of  which  I  had  not  fj 

been  able  to  obtain  a  knowledge  when  I  was  \ 

engaged  in  writing  the  Narrative    of   the  i  h 

Voyage  of  Captain  Marchand.  j| 

■  ■  ji 

.  -  I.  j 

FIRST  ADDITION.  jj 

■  ij 

For  the  INTRODUCT  ION.  ' 

TN  the  INTRODUCTION:,  I  havc  contcntcd  myfclf 
with  giving  a  fummary  account  of  the  expe- 
ditions to  the  north-west  coaft  of  America, 
which  are  pofterior  to  that  of  La  Fé rouse  ;  and 
I  have  announced  that  the  Britifh  government  had 
difpatchcd  vefîels  to  verify  and  complete  the  dif- 
coveries  which  had  been  made  in  thefe  latter  times 

between 


ADDITIONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE.'^  269 


between  the  48th  and  the  60th  parallels.  The' 
voyage  of  Captain  Vancouver*,  publifhed  in 
London  towards  the  end  of  laft  year,  1798,  and 
which  did  not  reach  us  in  France  till  the  be- 
ginning of  the  year  VII,  (1799)  has  perfedly  ac- 
complifhed  that  objed  :  and  it  may  be  faid  that 
this  part  of  the  coaft  of  the  New  World  is  at 
prefent  better  known,  in  refped  to,  geography, 
than  have  been,  and  than  ever  will  be  perhaps, 
parts  of  the  Old  Continent  much  more  within  our 
reach,  and  which  the  Europeans  have  frequented 
fince  they  have  applied  themfelves  to  navigation. 
The  iNTRODUcrioN  to  the  Voyage  of  Captain 
Marchand  may  be  coniidered  as  the  introdudion 
to  the  voyage  of  Vancouver  :  the  latter  muft  fix 
€very  uncertainty  ;  and  in  perufing  the  epitome  of 
the  difcoverieis  that  have  been  made  from  the  year 
,1537  to  1790,  the  reader  will  follow  v/ith  curiofity 
and  intereft,  on  the  valuable  charts  which  accom- 
pany Vancouver's  narrative,  the  tracks  that  the 
ancient  voyagers  have  fcarcely  pointed  out  to  us; 
he  will  recognize  the  lands  of  which  they  had  only 
had  a  glimpfe;  he  will  know  what  they  would 
have  wilhed  us  ever  to  be  ignorant  of  ;  and,  in 
admiring  the  immenfe  progrefs  made  in  the  fcience 
of  navigation,  he  will  not  refufe  a  tribute  of  praife 
to  the  learned  men  who  have  improved  that  fcience/ 

*  A  Voyage  of  Difcovery  to  the  North  Pacljic  Ocean,  and 
round  the  IVorld,  ^r/  by  Captain  George  Vancouver,  London; 
1798,  3  vols.  4to.  with  an  ^/'/«j, 

and 


276         Additions  to  the  -naiuiativi!o 

and  to  the  indefatigable  navigators  who  have  found 
means  to  derive  from  its  improvement,  fo  great 
an  advantage  in  order  to  fucceed  in  completing  the 
difcovery  and  defcription  of  the  weft  eoaft  of 
North  America^ 


SECOND  ADDITION. 

For  the  IJlands  called LJs  Marquesas  de  MendÔça. 

TRAVELS  in  the  United  States  of  Ame- 
rica*, publiihed  in  Paris,  in  the  month  of  Ven- 
tofe  of  the  prefent  year  VII,  (March  1799)  give^ 
us  an  extrad  of  a  voyage  performed  in  1792,  in 
the  Great  Ocean,  by  Gaptain  Roberts^j  an  Ame- 
rican, commanding  the  fliip  Jefferso^j,  of  five 
hundred  tons  burden,  which  failed  from  Boston, 
on  the  29th  November  1791. 

The  obje6b  of  Captain  Roberts's  e:kpediti6n 
\vas  to  trade  for  furs  on  the  north-west  coaft  6f 
America^  and,  as  well  as  Captain  Marchand,  he 
put  into  the  Bay  of  La  Madre  de  Dios  in  the^ 
Ifland  of  V/ahitaho  (or  Santa  Christina) 
which  he  calls  Who  an  wow.  His  intention  in 
putting  into  this  port  was  not  only  to  procure 
water  and  refrefhments,  but  alfo  to  conftruâ  â 
Vcfîcl  of  ninety  tons,  the  frame  of  which  he  had 

*  Voyage  dans  les  Etats  Unis  d^Amérigue^  fatt  1795,  961 
97,  par  La  Rochefaucauld-Lm^icourt,  Paris,  Du  Pont,  An.  Ylh 
8  Vol.  8yo.  Vol.  III.  pages  19  to  2 z. 

on 


ADDITIONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE.  £71 

x>n  board  ready  to  be  fet  up,  and  which  fcrved 
him,  in  the  fequel,  to  fécond  the  Jefferson  in  the 
fur- trade. 

The  extrad  which  concerns  the  Iflands  called 
'Las  Marquesas  de  Mendoça,  occupies  only  three 
pages,  although  Captain  Roberts  (laid  four  months 
at  La  Madre  de  Dios,  and  might  have  given  us 
fome  very  interefting  details  refpe6ling  the  Ifland 
of  WAHiTAHoin  particular,  and  fome  notions  lefs 
uncertain  than  thofe  which  we  have  refpedling  the 
other  iflands  of  the  group  i  but  he  fpeaks  only  of 
the  inhabitants  of  the  ifland  where  he  had  eflra- 
bliflied  himfelf,  and  even  of  thern  he  fays  very 
little  :  Captain  Chanal  to  whom  I  have  commu- 
nicated this  extradl,  finds,  and  juilly,  a  great  deal 
of  incorrednefs  in  the  little  that  has  been  faid  ;  and 
I  own  that  I  have  found  in  it  nothing  that  ought  to 
be  added  to  the  defcription,  fuc h  as  I  have  been 
able  to  give,  of  the  ifland  and  of  the  inhabitants, 
■from  the  materials  which  have  been  furniflied  us 
by  the  voyagers  who  had  vifited  it  before  Captain 
Roberts. 

According  to  the  American  Captain,  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  Mendoça  Iflands,  "  have  no  .other 

arms  than  flakes  of  extremely  hard  wood  'vexy 

Jharp^foinUd^  and  long  flings,  with  which  they 
"  throw  large  ftones  very  far,   and  with  much 

^e^taeimfs."' 

I  kîi6w  not  whether  by  flakes  very  Jhaff*poinhd 
be  means  lances  from  nine  to  .eleven  feet  long, 

and 


272  ADDITIONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE. 

and  pikes  or  javelins  of  which  they  make  life  in 
War  ;  but,  independently  of  a  fort  of  fabre,  made 
of  an  extremely  hard  wood,  in  the  form  of  the 
^blade  of  an  oar,  he  has  omitted  to  make  mention 
of  the  weapon  the  moil  formidable  in  the  hand  of 
a  native  of  the  Mendoça  Iflands,  of  the  cafe uarina 
club,  one  of  the  ends  of  which  confifts  of  a  large 
knob  ;  and  which  they  take  a  delight  in  ornament- 
ing with  carving.  The  ufe  of  the  fling  had  been 
î-emarked  by  the  French  ^  they  agree  with  Captain 
Roberts  as  to  the  great  diftance  to  which  thefe 
iflanders  can  throw  a  ftone,  but  they  do  not  in  like 
manner  admit  of  their  addrefs  in  hitting  the  mark. 
(See  Vol  I.  page  178.) 

Captain  Roberts,  fpeaking  of  the  attempt 
which  the  inhabitants  of  the  neighbouring  ifland 
(no  doubt  0-Hivah6a,  or  La  Dominica)  made 
to  carry  off  the  anchor  belonging  to  the  fmall 
veflcl  which  he  had  conftrudled,  fays  that  they 
prefented  themfelves  "  with  a  flotilla  of  twenty 

canoes  of  ninety  f est  in  length.'*        '  '  ■ 

The  French,  on  their  arrival  in  the  Bay  of  La 
Madre  DE  Dios,  were  vifited  by  fifty  canoes 
which  had  corhe  from  O-HivAkoA  :  the  length 
of' the  largeft  of  thofe  canoes  did  not  exceed 
twenty-five  or  thirty  feet  at  moft  (to  Vol.  L  page 
176.)     '      _  ■      -  :  _ 

The  American  Captain  adds,  that  the'  inhabi- 
tants of  O-HiVAHOA  are  'in  a'  continual  fiate  of 
wat  with  thofc  of  WahitAho    but 'the  Fmnch 

found 


ADDITIONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE.  273 

found  them  to  live  on  terms  of  good  underftand- 
ing  J  and,  on  the  firft  vifit  which  they  paid  to  the 
Bay  of  La  Madre  de  Dios,  the  natives  of  the 
two  iflands,  affembled  and  mingled  together,  ftem- 
ed  to  form  but  one  tribe.  I  would  not,  how- 
ever, vouch  that  this  harmony  is  never  difturbed  5 
for,  after  the  firft  day,  the  French  voyagers  did 
not  fee  them  keep  up  on  ftiore  a  communication 
with  each  others  but  the  canoes  of  the  two  iflands 
paddled  pell-mell  round  the  Ihip,  and  no  quarrels 
were  ever  feen  to  arife  between  the  men  of  the 
two  nations.  .  The  wounds  which  were  perceived 
in  feveral  of  the  inhabitants  of  Wahitaho  atteft, 
indeed,  that  they  have  wars  to  maintain,  and  it 
is  probable  that  it  is  principally  againft  thofe  of 
O-H1VAHÔA,  their  ncareft  neighbours  :  the  latter, 
in  general,  appear  more  warlike,  lefs  familiar  in 
the  intercourfe  of  life  than  the  former  j  and,  as 
their  ifland  appears  far  from  fertile,  it  may  happen 
that  fterility  and  the  fcarcity  which  is  the  confc- 
quence  of  it,  induce  them  fometimes  to  make  in- 
curfions  among  their  neighbours,  whom  a  land  ever 
fruitful  maintains  in  perpetual  plenty  ;  but  it  can- 
not thence  be  concluded  that  the  jtate  of  war  is 
the  habitual  ft  ate  of  the  two  tribes. 

"  Marriages,''  fays  Captain  Roberts,  "  laft  only 
"  as  long  as  it  pleafes  the  married  couple,  efpecially 
"  the  men,  who  preferve  a  great  fuperiority  over 
"  the  wom^en  :  they  never  eat  with  them.  The  fame 
"  habitations  frequently  contain  the  fathers  and 

VOL.  II.  T  *'the 


ADDITIONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE. 


"  the  children^  even  when  the  latter  are  mar- 
"  ried/' 

The  American  Captain  muft  have  had  more  op- 
portunities than  the  French  Captain  of  afcertaining 
whether  the  inhabitants  of  Wahitaho  are  acquaint- 
ed with  any  rule  in  marriage  j  but,  as  I  have  faid, 
to  judge  of  them  from  their  condudV,  it  might  be 
imagined  that  every  man  is  the  hufband  of  all 
the  women,  and  every  woman,  the  wife  of  all  the 
men.  {See  Vol.  I.  pages  164  and  165.)  As  to  the 
fuperiority  of  the  men  over  the  women,  it  does  not 
appear  that  they  have  any  other  than  that  which 
Nature  has  given  to  the  ftronger  ;  but  the  wo- 
men are  admitted  to  eat  habitually  with  the  men  : 
Captain  Chanal  who  has  frequently  been  prefent 
at  their  meals,  has  feen  the  men,  women  and  chil- 
dren eat  in  common  and  feed  on  the  fame  dilhes. 
{See\o\  1.  pages  195  and  196.) 

According  to  Captain  Roberts,  ^*  there  is  in 
this  ifland  a  Kmgy  who  is  hereditary^  and  villagc- 
*^  chiefs,  who  are  Ukewife  hereditary  ;  there  is  alfo 
*^  a  certain  inequality  in  the  families,  who  all  pay 
to  the  king  and  to  the  chitfs  great  7narks  of  de- 
"  ference  :  property  is  acknowledged,  and  refpe61:- 
ed  :  the  number  of  domeftics  and  Jlaves  is  pro- 
portionate  to  this  property.    The  ftealing  of 
produ6lions,  as  well  as  of  every  other  thing,  is 
feverely  punifhed,  and  "  the  punifliment  is  or- 
"  dered  by  the  chiefs  according  to  a  fentence  which 
"  they  faJsC' 

It 


ADDITIONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE.  S75 

It  has  been  feen  (VoLI.  pages  197  to  201,)  that 
neither  the  Englifh,  Cook  and  MefTrs,  Forster, 
nor  the  French,  Marchand,  Chanal,  and  Rob- 
let,  were  abie  to  diftinguifh  what  is  the  form  of 
government  of  thefe  iflanders  ;  they  all  agree 
merely  on  one  point,  that  is,  that,  if  thofe  who 
have  fometimes  the  appearance  of  being  chiefs, 
have  indeed  fome  authority,  it  is  not  manifefted 
by  any  adt  -,  and  that  the  pretended  fubjedls  or 
vaflals  app^ear  to  pay  no  refpedt  to  majefty  or  lord- 
ihip,  this  is  very  different  to  thofe  great  marks  of 
refpc6l  which,  according  to  Captain  Roberts,  all 
the  families  pay  to  the  king  and  to  the  chiefs  :  it 
may  be  laid  that,  if,  in  the  Ifland  of  Wahitaho, 
there  exift  dignities,  thofe  who  are  invefted  with 
them  take  a  pleafure  in  keeping  incGg,  Thofe 
voyagers  who  preceded  the  American  Captain  did 
not  perceive  that  inequality  of  conditions,  which 
diftinguiilies  mafters,  fervants,  and  flaves  ;  we  have 
fome  difEculty  in  believing  that,  if  this  inequality 
were  eftablifhed,  it  would  have  efcaped  the  obfer- 
vation  of  the  Englifh  and  French  :  wherever  there 
is  a  mafter,  he  is  eager  to  (hew  that  he  has  fervants 
and  flaves  to  wait  on  him.  As  to  that  tribunal  of 
chiefs  for  trying  thefts,  and  inflidling  the  punifli- 
ment  of  the  offence,  the  criminal  code  of  Wahi- 
taho muft,  fince  the  departure  of  the  Solide, 
have  been  greatly  improved  5  for  it  has  been  feen 
that  the  chief  who  caufed  Captain  Marchand's 
mufl^et  to  be  reftqred  affembled  not  his  council 

T  2  to 


ADDITIONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE. 


to  try  the  thief  -,  he  confuked  only  his  club.  ( See 
Vol.  I.  pages  6 1,  200,  and  201.) 

Captain  Roberts  does  not  expatiate  on  the 
natural  produ6tions  of  the  country  -,  he  fays  merely 
that,  Potatoes  and  fugar- canes  are  there  culti- 
"  vated  ;  that  poultry,  which  is  far  from  being  in 
"  plenty,  and  hogs  of  the  Chinefe  breeds  which  are 

to  be  found  in  fome  quantities,  are  eaten  roafted\ 
"  and  that  Mi  is  eaten  razv.'' 

I  prefume  that  tht  potatoey  mentioned  in  this  ex- 
tradl,  is  the  fpecies  of fweet  fotatoe  which  is  fpoken 
of  in  Marchandas  voyage  {^SeeYoï.l.  page  123;) 
it  is  not  there  faid  whether  this  root  be  cultivated 
at  Wahitaho,  or  whether  it  be  a  fpontaneous 
produdlion  of  the  earth.  With  regard  to  the 
fugar- cane  Captain  C  h  anal  aflures  us  {See  Vol.  I. 
page  126,)  that  the  natives  are  unacquainted  with 
its  value  :  it  was  not  therefore  cukivated  there 
at  the  period  of  the  voyage  of  the  French. 

This  fame  Captain,  whom  I  have  confulted  ref- 
pe6ling  the  fpecies  of  hog  Vv^hich  is  procured  at  the 
Marq^jesas  de  Mendoça,  does  not  think  that  it 
is  of  the  Chinefe  breed.  The  China  hog  has- a  body 
thick  and  round  ;  and  its  legs,  which  are  fhort 
and  flender,  are  not  in  proportion  to  the  body  :  the 
hog  of  Wahitaho  is,  in  general,  of  a  fmall  fize, 
but  it  is  proportioned  like  that  of  our  climates. 
The  flefli  of  the  Chinefe  hog  is  fo  fat,  that  it  is 
thence  infipid,  and  foon  cloys  j  whereas  the  flefh 
of  that  of  Wahitaho,  although  fat,  is  of  an  ex- 

quifite 


ADDITIONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE.  2// 

quifite  tafte  :  it  is  eaten  with  as  much  pîeafure  as 
that  of  the  flieep,  of  which  it  has  nearly  the  flavour  : 
it  is  very  fuperior  to  that  of  our  fucking  pigs,  of 
which  the  fl<:in  only  is  eftcemed.  It  is  probable 
that  the  excellent  quality  of  the  hogs  of  this  ifland 
is  due  to  the  quality  of  the  fruits  with  which  they 
are  fed,  the  fame  as  thofe  that  conilitute  the  prin- 
cipal food  of  the  men  who  according  to  Cook's 
account,  admit  the  hogs  to  their  table  {See  Vol. 
I.  page  170)5  which,  no  doubt,  is  neither  frequent 
nor  general,  and  it  may  be  imagined  that  hogs  arc 
admitted  to  their  table,  only  as  dogs  are  admitted 
to  ours. 

?  Captain  Roberts,  as  well  as  the  French,  ob-> 
ferved  that  the  natives  of  the  ifland  eat  fifli  raw  : 
it  has  been  feen  {See  Vol.  I.  page  172)  that  fomo^- 
times  too  they  eat  pork  without  having  drefied  it. 

Vvc  fhould  be  little  informed  of  the  charader 
and  manners  of  the  inhabitants  of  Wahitaho,  if 
we  were  no  better  acquainted  with  them  than 
from  the  account  of  the  American  Captain  :  we  find 
only  in  the  èxtrad  of  his  voyage  that  during 
"  the  four  months  which  hé  flaid  at  the  ifland,  he 

lived,  in  general,  on  very,  good  terms  with  the 
"  natives,  a  great  number  of  whom  aflifted  him  in 
"  his  labours  5  but  that  one  day  they  took  a  fancy 

to  feize  upon  his  little  veflel  which  was  only  half 

put  together,  and  that  a  confiderable  affemblage 
"  of  thefe  iflanders,  headed  by  their  King,  ma- 

nifefted  fo  evidently  their  proje(51:  of  making  an 
T  3  "  attack. 


2/8 


ADDITIONS  TO  TîîE  NARRATIVE. 


attack,  that  Captain  Roberts  fays,  he  found 
himfetf  obliged  to  ufe  force  in  order  to  repel 
"  them  5  that  with  thirty -fix  men  who  compofed 
his  crew,  he  fired  on  the  natives,  killed  feveral, 
wounded  a  great  many  others,  and  routed  them 
all  i  that  the  next  day,  they  came  to  fue  for 
peace,  and  to  bring  him  fome  of  their  wounded 
to  be  dreffed/' 

It  is  by  comparing  all  the  known  fads  and  the 
opinions  of  voyagers,  that,  in  the  narrative  of 
'  Captain  Marc  hand's  voyage,  I  have  ilcetched 
the  chara<51:er  of  this  nation,  who,  in  many  ref- 
pe6ls,  might  have  to  complain  of  the  Europeans 
much  more  than  the  latter  have  to  corhplain  of 
•them  (See  Vol.  I.  page  189.)  What  I  have  had  it  in 
my  power  to  fay  of  them  will  partly  make  up  for 
the  filence  of  the  American  Captain  ;  but  we  muft 
regret  infinitely  that,  having  (laid  four  months  on 
Ihore,  having  lived  in  habitual  fociety  with  the 
natives  of  the  ifland,  he  has  not  been  more  oc- 
cupied in  ftudying  and  making  known  to  us  a. 
race  of  men  who  appear  to  be  Hill  in  that  period 
of  civilization  in  which  man  is  no  longer  favagCj, 
and  in  which  he  is  not  yet  entirely  civilized  r 
what  a  rich  harveft  might  have  been  made  by  a 
philofophic  voyager  ! 

Captain  Roberts  fays  that      the  fermented 
liquor  that  the  natives  of  Wahitaho  make 
with  a  yellow  root  which  they  call  bary  (and 
"  which  Captain  Chanal  thinks  to  be  that  of 


ADDITIONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE.  279 

"  g'^^'W^i  (^^^         ^'  P^to^  ^74)  antifcorbutic, 
'  "  and  that  they  employ  it  as  a  remedy  againft  the 
venereal  difeafe,  which  is  very  common  in  thefe 
iflands  fince  the  firft  vifits  of  the  Europeans,  and 
"  with  which  all  the  Jefferson's  people  were 
infefled*." 

It  has  been  feen  in  the  narrative  of  Marchandas 
voyage  (Vol.  I.  page  169,)  that  Surgeon  Roblet 
does  not  fay  that  the  ifland  was  infeded  at  the 
period  of  that  voyage  5  at  leaft  the  fymptoms  of 
the  difeafe  did  not  fhew  themfelves  among  the  in- 
habitants :  however,  fome  made  their  appearance 
in  a  few  individuals  belonging  to  the  Solide  after 
the  fhip  had  quitted  the  ifland;  but  Surgeon  Rob- 
let  thought  he  might  attribute  this  as  much  t6 
what  they  had  brought  as  to  what  they  might  have 
received  :  a  finglc  year  is  then  fufficient  for  this 
diforder  to  have  made  a  frightful  progrefs.  What 
reproaches  have  the  Europeans  to  make  to  them- 
felves !  What  portion  of  the  inhabited  earth  will 
be  exempt  from  the  fcourge  which  they  carry  with 
them  ?  But,  on  this  point,  we  muft  not  hope  that 
they  will  ever  amend,  and  the  leflfon  of  the  paft  is 
loft  for  the  time  to  come.*' 

The  American  Captain  appears  not  to  have  been 
fo  ft  ruck  by  the  beautiful  proportions  of  the  in- 

*  From  what  is  said  of  it,  this  beverage  is  prepared  like  the 
çi'va  of  the  Tahciteans,  and  in  a  manner  equally  difgufting  to 
puropeans. 

T  4  habitant3 


ADDITIONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE. 


habitants  of  the  Mendoça  Iflands  as  the  Spaniards, 
the  Enghfli,  and  the  French  have  been  :  he  fays 
only,  towards  the  end  of  the  extrad  of  his  voyage, 
that  the  race  of  the  men  and  women  is  hand- 
fome." 


THIRD  ADDITION; 

For  the  Group  of  IJlands  to  the  North-weft  of  the 
Marquesas  de  Mendoça. 

Captain  Roberts,  on  quitting  the  Ifland  of 
Wahitaho,  made  fail  for  the  Sandwich  Iflands. 

He  affirms,"  it  is  faid  in  the  extrad  of  his 
voyage*,  "  that  he  difcovered,  on  his  route,  a 
group  of  iflands i  not  yet  fpoken  of  by  any  navi- 
gator, lying  in  8°  40'  fouth  latitude,  and  140^ 
weft  longitude  from  Greenwich  (142"^  20'  weft 
from  Paris)  :  he  reconnoitred  them  without  land- 
ing, called  the  clufter  Washington's  Group,  and 
gave  fome  of  the  iflands  the  names  of  Adams, 
Jefferson,  Hamilton,  &c.  Thefe  iflands  had 
been  feen  the  preceding  year  (1791)  by  Captain 
Ingraham  of  the  fhip  Hope  of  Boston  ;  but  he 
had  done  no  more  than  perceive  them  and  point 
out  their  fituation.     Captain  Roberts  fays  he 

*  See  Voyage  dans  les  Etats JJnis  par  la  Rochefoucauld 
l^tancourt.  Vol.  III.  page  23. 

landed 


ADDITIONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE. 


landed  in  this  archipelago,  at  Newheve,  v/hich 
he  named  Adams's  liland,  latitude  8°  56'^  an  old 
man. of  feventy-five  years  of  age  whom  he  had 
found  at  Resolution  Bay  (La  Madre  de  Dios) 
in  the  Ifland  of  Wohanhow  (Wahîtahô),  and 
who  had  been  there  for  a  long  time.  This  old 
man  was  born  in  Washington's  Group,  at  On- 
HAWA  which  Captain  Roberts  called  the  Ifland  of 
Massachusetts.  He  examined  the  coaft  of  fome 
of  them*." 

It  has  been  feen  in  the  narrative  of  Marchandas 
Voyage  (page  102  of  this  Vol.)  that,  while  the  So- 
lide lay  in  Macao  Road,  Captain  Ch  anal  was  fent 
on  board  an  American  fliip,  the  captain  of  which 
was  ill,  and  that  he  learnt  from  him  that,  in  the 
beginning  of  the  month  of  May  1791,  in  ftanding 
from  the  Mendoca  Iflands  to  the  north-west 
coaft  of  America,  he  had  difcovered  to  the  north- 
weft  of  that  group,  another  group  as  extenfive  as 

*  It  is  not  mentioned  at  what  period  Captain  Roberts  examined 
thefe  iflands.  In  the  extraft  from  his  voyage,  there  are  no  other 
dates  than  that  of  his  departure  from  Boften,  on  the  2gth  of 
November  1791,  and  that  of  putting  into  an  ifland  in  the 
Grejt  OcEANy  on  the  5th  of  July  1792,  namely  the  Spanifli 
Ifland  St,  {Ambrofey  in  latitude  26°  13'fouth,  where  he  ftaid 
two  months  and  a  half,  and  procured  thirteen  thoufand  feal- 
Ikins  and  a  great  quantity  of  oil.  He  mufl:  have  arrived  at 
La  Madre  de  Dios  about  the  beginning  of  September  :  and,  as 
he  there  made  a  fl:ay  of  four  months,  it  may  be  fuppofed  that  it 
was  about  the  latter  end  of  December  1792,  or  the  beginning 
of  January  1793,  that  he  perceived  the  north-nveji  group  of  the 
Marque/as  de  Mendoça, 

6  the 


2^2  ADDITIONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE. 

the  former  ;  that  he  had  given  names  to  the  iflands 
of  which  it  -is  compofed,  but  had  not  flopped 
there.  It  could  not  be  doubted,  from  the  lati- 
tude  and  the  bearing  which  he  indicated,  that  thefe 
were  the  fame  iflands  which  Captain  Marchand 
had  difcovered  a  month  later  j  but  we  were  ig- 
norant of  the  name  of  this  Captain  who  had  feen 
them  firfl:  without  examining  them  :  the  extradl 
of  Captain  Roberts's  Voyage  informs  us  that 
the  former  Captain  is  named  In  g  rah  am,  and  that 
he  commanded  the  fhip  Hope  of  Boston. 

It  is  this  very  group  which  Captain  Roberts  re- 
connoitred towards  the  end  of  1792  or  the  begin- 
ning of  i793>  and  which  he  named  Washington's 
lilands,  at  the  fame  time  not  informing  us  whether 
this  be  the  name  which  had  been  impofcd  on 
them  by  Captain  Ingraham,  when  he  made  the 
firft  difcovery  of  them  in  the  month  of  May  1791. 
It  is  to  be  regretted  that,  in  the  extract  of  Captain 
Roberts's  Voyage,  which  I  have  here  given  ^at 
length,  no  mention  is  made  of  the  number  of 
iflands  of  which  this  group  is  comppfed. 

But  this  extract  makes  known  to  us  the  names 
which  the  natives  of  the  group  give  to  two  of 
their  iflands:  Newheve,  and  Onhawa.  Àt  the 
firft  glance  we  recognize  the  name  of  Newheve  in 
that  of  Neev-Heeva,  which  is  written  ohTupia's 
chart,  {Plate  IF.  )  next  to  the  moft  weftern  of  the 
two  fouthern  iflands  of  the  archipelago  which 
comprifes  the  Marquesas  de  Mendoça:  and, 

when 


ADDITIONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE. 


when  we  know  how  many  different  founds  the  pro- 
per names  of  the  Iflands  of  the  Great  Ocean 
obtain  in  paffing  through  various  European  mouths, 
and  what  changes  the  different  orthographies  caufe 
them  to  undergo,  we  are  not  far  from  recognizing 
O-Haneanea,  the  name  given  by  Tupia  to  the 
mofl:  eaftern  of  the  two  fouthern  iflands  of  the 
fame  archipelago,  in  the  name  On  h  aw  a,  which 
Captain  Roberts  fays  is  that  of  one  of  the  iflands 
which  he  examined.  It  may  therefore  be  faid  that 
we  know  the  names  which  Tupia  gave  to  five  oi 
the  iflands  of  the  archipelago  that  comprifes,  to 
the  fouth-eaft,  the  group  of  the  Marq^uesas  de 
Mendoça. 

I  remark  that  thefe  two  laft-mentioned  names 
are  applied,  on  Tupia's  chart,  to  tv/o  of  the  iflands 
of  the  south-east  Group,  that  of  the  Mendoça 
Iflesj  while  we  fee  by  the  account  of  Captain 
Roberts,  that  they  belong  to  iflands  of  the  north-  ' 
west  Group  ;  and  this  may  confirm  what  I  had 
fufpedled,  (See  Vol.  I.  page  259,  Note*)  that  is, 
that  in  confl:ru6ting  the  chart  under  the  direélion 
of  Tupia  (and  the  mifl:ake  may  proceed  from  him- 
felf)  the  names  which  belong  to  the  south-east 
Group  have  been  applied  to  the  north-west 
Group,  and  thofe  of  the  north-west  Group,  to 
the  south-east  Group  :  and,  in  faét,  we  have 
feen  that  the  names  of  O-Niteio,  0-Hiva-H6a 
^nd  Wahitaho,  which  are  three  names  of  the 
south-east  Group  or  of  the  Mendoça  Iflands, 

have 


?84  ADDITIONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE. 

have  been  applied  on  the  chart  to  three  of  the 
iflands  of  the  north-west  Group,  that  which 
has  been  fucceffively  reconnoitred  by  Captains  In- 
graham,  Marchand,  and  Roberts. 

In  Plate  Illy  No.  L  of  Marchandas  Voyage, 
I  have  given  the  Plan  of  the  iflands  which  com- 
pofe  the  north-west  Group,  named  by  the  French 
Captain,  Iles  de  la  Révolution,  as  it  was  drawn 
by  Captain  Chanal,  who  fubjeded  it  to  the  ob- 
fervations  for  the  latitude  and  longitude  and  to  the 
bearings  taken  on  board  the  Solide.  We  were 
then  ignorant  in  France  that  in  1792,  fubfequently 
to  the  examination  made  by  Captain  Roberts, 
the  north  -west  Group  had  been  vifited  by  an 
Englifli  Captain,  and  that  it  was  from  the  plan 
drawn  by  this  latter  navigator  that  Arrowsmith 
had  placed  the  group  on  his  planifphere  ( See  pages 
104  to  107  of  this  Vol.)  It  was  not,  as  I  have  already 
faid,  till  the  beginning  of  the  prefent  year  (  1799) 
that  we  faw  Vancouver's  Voyage,  publifhcd  in 
London  towards  the  end  of  the  year  VI.  (1798), 
and  in  which  the  Englifh  Captain  gives  an  ex- 
trad  from  the  voyage  of  the  D^dalus,  under 
the  command  of  Lieutenant  Hergest,  in  the 
courfe  of  which  that  navigator,  after  having  put 
into  the  Bay  of  La  Madre  de  Dios,  in  the 
Ifland  of  Wahitaho,  reconnoitred  and  vifited  the 
north-west  Group.  The  imprefllon  of  the  greater 
part  of  my  work  was  completed  for  fome  months 
paft,  and  the  Plates  were  worked  off,  when  I  re-r 

ceived 


ADDITIONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE. 


ceived  Vancouver's  Voyage  ;  but  I  have  added  to 
Plate  III.  of  Marchandas  Voyage,  No.  II.  a  chart 
which  is  a  copy  of  that  of  the  north-west  Group, 
conftru6led  by  Lieutenant  Hergest,  and  Mr. 
GoocH  the  aftronomer  who  accompanied  him,  and 
1  shall  now  give  a  tranfcript  of  the  Extradt,  which 
Vancouver  has  inferted  in  his  Journal,  of  the 
part  of  that  of  Hergest,  which  concerns  the 
furvey  of  this  Group.  At  the  end  of  this  tranfcript, 
I  fliall  prefent  fome  obfervations  to  which  the 
chart  and  the-  narrative  of  Marchand  may  give 
rife,  compared  with  the  account  and  the  chart 
of  Hergest. 

Extract  from  the  Journal  of  Lieutenant 
Hergest^. 

"  The  D^dalus  had  anchored  in  the  Bay  of 
La  Madre  de  Dios,  on  the  22nd  of  March 
1792t." 

"  In  the  evening  (of  the  29th  of  the  fàme  month) 
about  five  o'clock,  fhe  weiglied  and  fleered  to  the 
northward.  At  day-light  the  next  morning,  the 
30th  f  fhe  came  within  fight  of  fome  iflands,  which 

appeared 

*  VancQwver^s  Voyage,  Vol.  II.  page  85  to  9^;, 
f  This  date  of  the  22nd  of  March,  which  is  to  be  found 
in  page  85  of  Vancowver's  Journal  (Vol  11.)  is  remarkable, 
becaufe,  in  the  fequel  of  the  Extraft  which  he  gives  of  the  voy- 
age of  the  Dadalusi  there  appear  fome  evident  miftakes  refpec- 
ting  dates.  ' 
%  The  original  (page  90  and  91)  gives  the  dates  of  the  29th 
Q^Qher  and  of  the  30th  of  QMer^  which  are  very  evidently 

the 


sB6  ADDITIONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE- 

appeared  to  Mr.  Her  g  est  to  be  new  difcovcnes, 
Thofe  nrft  feen  were  three  in  number,  one  bearing 
by  compafs*  north  by  eaft,  the  other  north  by 
weft,  and  the  third  fouth-weft  by  fouth.  She 
fetched  the  fouth-weft  part  of  the  eafternmoft, 
where  a  good  bay  was  found  with  a  fandy  beach. 
Some  rocky  idets  lie  to  the  fouth-eaft  or  it  5  and, 
from  a  gully  in  the  north-weft  part  of  the  bay, 
there  was  an  appearance  of  procuring  a  fupply 
of  water.  To  the  eaft  of  the  fouth  point,  there 
appeared  another  good  bay  ;  and  along  the  weftern 
Ihore,  ftiallow  broken  water.  But,  on  rounding 
that  point,  and  hauling  to  the  north  along  the 
weft  fide,  the  broken  water  was  found  to  extend 
not  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  fhore. 
On  this  fide  there  is  neither  cove  nor  inlet,  only 
a  rocky  Ihore,  with  two  fmall  rocky  iflets  off  its 
northweft  point.  This  ifland  is  about  fix  leagues 
in  circuit,  and  is  in  latitude  8®  50'  fouth  f  :  longi- 


the  29th  and  the  30th  of  March,  fince  it  appears  in  the  nar- 
rative, that  the  Dadalus  paffed  only  a  feuu  days  at  anchor  in  the 
Bay  of  La  Madre  de  Dîos,  where,  as  has  been  feen,  (he  had  an- 
chored on  the  22nd  of  March  1792. 

*  Hergeft'^  Journal  makes  no  mention  of  the  variation  of  the 
magnetic  needle,  but  from  the  obfervations  made  on  board  the 
Solide,  on  the  21ft  of  June  1791,  in  fight  of  lie  Marchand 
(Hergefl's  Tre'venen*s  Ifland)  it  was  4°  32 'eaft,  See  the  Journal 
of  the  Route  at  the  end  of  this  Volume. 

+  The  fcale  of  the  original  chart  which  is  to  be  found  in 
Vancouver* s  Voyage^  is  marked,  by  miftake,  80°  and  90°  inftead 
of  8°  and  9°. 

tude 


ADDitîONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE.  «8/ 

tude  Î220*  51'  eaft  from  Greenwich  (141*  29' 
15''  weft  from  Paris).  It  is  inhabited  by  a  tribe 
of  feemingly  friendly  Indians,  fome  of  whom  vifited 
the  fhip  in  their  canoes.  In  the  vallies  were  a 
great  number  of  cocoa-nut  and  plantain  trees,  and 
the  whole  ifland  prefented  an  infinitely  more  ver« 
dant  and  fertile  appearance  than  thofe  they  had 
juft  quitted  (the  Marquesas  de  Mendoça). 

"  From  hence  Mr.  Hergest  flood  over  to  the 
fouthernmoft  ifland,  which  appears  at  a  diftance 
like  a  remarkably  high  rock,  with  three  peaked 
rocks  clofe  to  it  ;  thefe  are  about  the  middle  of 
the  ifland.    The  night  was  fpent  in  keeping  his 
ftation  near  it,  and,  in  the  morning,  his  courfe 
was  diredted  towards  its  fouth-weft  point.    As  the 
fhore  was  approached,  the  land  was  feen  to  be  well 
cultivated  and  numeroufly  inhabited.    More  than 
one  hundred  Indians  were  foon  aflTembled  round 
the  fliip  in  their  canoes,  dilpofing  of  cocoa-nuts, 
plantains.  Sec,  for  beads  and  other  trifles,  and 
behaving  in  a  very  friendly  manner.  At  the  fouth- 
weft  end  of  this  ifland  is  a  very  good  bay,  with 
a  fandy  beach  in  its  eaftern  part*.    Along  the 
fouthern  fide  are  other  bays;  one  in  particular 
appeared  to  retire  deeply  in  towards  the  fouth-eaft 
end  of  the  ifland,  having  a  fmall  iflet  lying  off" 
it,  not  unlike  in  fliape  to  the  fteeple  of  a  cathe- 

*  See  what  is  faid  of  this  bay  in  the  Voyage  of  Marchand,  who 
caufcd  it  to  be  vifued.   Vol.  I,  pages  222  amd  223. 

dral. 


£^8  ADDITIONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE. 

dral*,  and  other  rocks  and  iflets.  From  the  weft 
point  of  this  ifland,  forming  alfo  the  weft  point 
of  the  fineft  and  deepeft  bay  it  affords,  its  ftiorcs 
trend  found  to  the  north-caft ,  and,  like  the  weft 
fide  of  the  ifland  he  was  at  the  preceding  day 
(which  received  the  name  of  Riou's  Island)  are 
rocky,  and  bear  rather  a  fteril  appearance.  This 
ifland  obtained  the  name  of  Tiievenen's  Island  f, 
it  is  fituated  in  latitude  ^  14  fouth,  longitude  220^ 
21'  eaft  from  Greenv/ich  (141°  59'  15''  weft  from 
Paris.) 

"  In  the  forenoon  of  the  ift  of  April  J,  the 
fouth  fide  of  the  third  ifland  was  pafTed,  which 
was  named  Sir  Henry  Martin's  Island  §;  im- 
mediately to  the  weft  of  its  fouth-eaft  point,  called 
Point  Martin,  is  a  deep,  well-ftieltered  bay, 
bounded  by  Tandy  beaches  :  this  obtained  the  name 
of  Comptroller's  Bay  5  it  was  not  examined, 
but,  on  paffing,  had  the  appearance  of  a  fafe  and 
commodious  port.  At  its  head  was  a  break  in  the 
fliores,  fuppofed  by  fome  to  be  the  mouth  of  a 
rivulet,  but  as  it  appeared  too  large  for  fo  fmall 

*  This  is  the  iflot  named  le  Pic  (the  Peak)  by  Captain  Mar^ 
thand  (See  Vol.  I.  page  220.) 

+  This  is  the  lie  Marchand  reconnoitred  by  the  Solide, 

\  This  date  is  the  fame  in  the  original  page  93  :  which  con- 
firms what  I  have  faid  (pages  285  and  286,  note  J,  of  this  volume) 
of  the  error  of  the  two  preceding  dates,  29th  and  30th  Odober, 
inftead  of  the  20th  and  30th  of  March. 

^  This  is  the  lU  Baux  of  Captain  Marchanda 

an 


ADDITIONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE.  289 

an  ifland  to  afford,  Mr.  Hergest  was  rather  in- 
clined to  believe  it  only  a  deep  cove. 

"  The  D^D ALUS  was  here  vifited  by  many  of 
the  natives,  paddling  and  failing  in  their  canoes, 
who  behaved  in  a  very  civil  and  friendly  manner. 
About  two  leagues  to  the  wedward  of  Point  Mar- 
tin is  a  very  fine  harbour,  extending  deep  into  the 
ifland,  and  bounded  by  a  moft  delightful  and  fertile 
country.  Mr.  Hergest,  accompanied  by  Mr. 
GoocH,  went  with  the  cutter  to  take  a  flcetch  and 
to  examine  the  port,  which  he  called  Port  Anna 
Maria.  It  was  found  to  be  very  eafy  of  accefs 
and  egrefs,  without  any  fhoals  or  rocks  that  are 
not  fufficiently  confpicuous  to  be  avoided  3  the 
depth  at  its  entrance  twenty-four  fathoms,  gradu- 
ally decreafing  to  fevcn  fathoms,  within  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  of  its  fhoreà  ;  the  bottom  a  fine  fand, 
and  the  furrounding  land  affording  moft  perfe(fi: 
fecurity  againft  the  winds  and  fea  in  all  diredlions. 
An  excellent  run  of  fine  water  flows  into  the 
harbour,  which  poifefTes  every  advantage  that  could 
be  de  fired. 

"  The  country  feemed  to  be  highly  cultivated, 
and  was  fully  inhabited  by  a  civil  and  friendly  race 
of  people,  readily  inclined  to  fupply  whatever  re- 
frefliments  their  country  afforded.  The  D^dalus's 
people  were  induced  to  entertain  this  opinion  from 
the  hofpitable  reception  they  experienced  on  land- 
ing, from  the  chiefs  and  upwards  of  fifteen  hun- 
dred, of  the  natives  who  were  afTembled  on  the 

VOL,  n.  u  •  fhores 


ADDITIONS  TO  TH£  NARRATIVE. 


{hores  of  the  harbour.  On  their  return  to  the 
ihip  they  found  the  fanne  harmony  fubfifting  there 
with  the  Indians,  who  had  carried  off  and  fold  a 
fupply  of  vegetables  and  fome  pigs*, 

"  Mr.  Hergest  renewed  his  route  along  the 
fouth  fide  of  the  ifland  to  its  fouth-weft  point,  when 
he  hauled  his  wind  along  the  weflern  fide.  This 
is  a  rocky  iron-bound  {hore  without  cove  or  bay. 
It  had  a  verdant  appearance,  but  no  great  fign  of 
fertility  I  nor  were  any  habitations  or  natives  per- 
ceived. 

*^  About  fun- fet,  he  difcovered  what  appeared 
like  a  large  rock  to  the  north-weftvv'ard,  about 
fix  or  feven  leagues  diftant  ;  and,  during  the  night, 
they  remained  near  Sir  Henry  Martin's  Ifland  ; 
but,  in  the  morning,  not  being  able  to  fetch  its 
north-eafb  point,  he  quitted  it;  its  north-weft  fide 
appeared  to  contain  fome  fmall  bays  j  and  towards 
its  north-eaft-  extremity,  the  land  turned,  appa- 
rently, fhort  round,  forming  a  bay  fomething  fimi- 
lar  to,  but  not  fo  deep  as  Comptroller's  Bay. 
Another  rock  juft  above  water  now  fhewed  its 
head  to  the  eaftward,  and  to  the  northward  of 
that  before- mentioned.    Thefe  rocks  f  Mr.  Her- 

*  Captain  Marchand  liad  met  with  a  reception  nolefs  friendly 
at  the  ifland  beating  his  name,  HergejVs,  'ïre^venen^  Ifland  {See 
Vol.  I.  pages  20'),  231,  and  232.) 

+  On  the  chart  thefe  arc  called  Hergejî's  Rocks  :  they  are  the 
rocks  named  Les  Deux  Frères  in  the  Journal  and  on  the  Chart 
«f  Captain  Marchand* 


ÇEST 


ADDITIONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE.  2.gt 

GEST  reprefents  to  be  dangerous  j  they  lie  about 
weft  by  north,  about  fix  leagues  from  the  weftern 
fide  of  Sir  Henry  Martin's  IQand  ^,  which  is 
about  fixteen  leagues  in  circuit.  Its  centre  is 
fituated  in  fouth  latitude  8°  51',  longitude  220° 
19  eaft  from  Greenwich  ^142®  1'  15''  weft  from 
Paris.) 

After  leaving  this  ifland,  two  others  were 
difcovered  to  the  northward  of  them.  On  the 
morning  of  the  3d  of  April  f,  Mr.  Hergest  bore 
up  to  the  fouthward  along  the  eaft  fide  of  the 
fouth- weftern moft.  This  is  the  largeft  of  the  two, 
its  ftiores  are  rocky,  without  any  coves  or  landing- 
places  j  and,  though  its  surface  was  green  it  pro- 
duced no  trees,  yet  a  few  flirubs  and  buOies  were 

*  This  fituation  of  the  rocks,  in  regard  to  Sir  Henry  Mar. 
i}n*s  Ifland,  fuch  as  the  Journal  indicates,  is  far  from  being  con- 
formable to  that  in  which  they  are  laid  down  on  the  chart  that 
accompanies  the  extraft  from  the  Journal  :  on  the  chart  the 
middle  of  the  two  Rocks  is  placed  at  the  diftance  of  eleven 
leagues  between  weft  by  north  and  weft-north-weft,  with  refpeâ: 
to  the  north.weft  point  of  Sir  Henry  Martin'^  Ifland,  the  part 
of  the  Ifland  the  neareft  to  the  Rocks  ;  the  diftance  is  ten  leagues 
one-third,  if  meafured  between  this  fame  point  and  the  weft  coaft 
^  of  the  Eaji  Rocky  that  is  to  fay,  at  the  ftiorteft  diftance  ;  and  it 
is  tivel've  leagues  and  a  halfy  if  meafured  between  the  point  of 
the  ifland  and  the  weft  point  of  the  Weft  Rock.  If  the  latitude 
and  longitude  of  thefe  rocks  were  inferted  in  the  Journal,  we 
ftiould  determine  on  the  pofition  which  Lieutenant  Hergeft  meant 
to  give  them  with  regard  to  the  ifland  ;  but  the  want  of  agree- 
ment between  the  Journal  and  the  Chart  leaves  a  great  uncer- 
tainty refpefting  this  pofition. 

+  This  date  is.  the  fame  in  the  original. 

u  2  thinly 


ADDITIONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE» 

thinly  fcattered  over  the  face  of  the  rocks  ;  nor 
did  it  feem  to  be  otherwife  inhabited  than  by  the 
tropical  oceanic  birds.  Thefe  were  in  great  num^ 
bers  about  it,  and  it  feemed  to  be  a  place  of  their 
general  refort.  The  north- weft  fide^  however, 
had  a  more  favourable  afped,  and,  although  its 
fliores  were  alfo  rocky,  a  number  of  trees  were 
produced,  as  well  on  the  fides  of  the  hills,  as  in 
the  vallies.  This  fide  afforded  fome  coves  where, 
there  is  good  landing,  particularly  in  one  near 
the  middle  :  this,  from  the  appearance  of  its  nor- 
thern fide,  was  called  Battery  Cove.  A  little 
more  than  a  mile  to  the  north  of  this  cove  is  a 
bay,  which  Mr.  Hergest  and  Mr.  Gooch  exami- 
ned. Good  anchorage  and  regular  foundings  were 
found  from  eighteen  to  five  fathoms  water  ;  the 
bottom  a  fine  clear  fand.  An  excellent  run  of 
frefh  water  difcharged  iifelf  into  the  bay  near  a 
grove  of  cocoa-nut  trees  ;  here  they  landed,  and 
found  a  place  of  interment,  and  a  hut  near  half  a 
mile  from  it  by  the  fide  of  a  hill  i  but  there  were 
no  people,  nor  the  appearance  of  any  having  been 
recently  there  ;  although  it  were  manifeft  that  they 
did,  on  fome  occafions  refort  to  the  ifland.  This 
induced  Mr.  Hergest  to  forbear  cutting  down  any 
of  the,  cocoa-nut  trees  as  he  at  firft  intended  to 
do;  and  he  procured  by  other  means  as  many  of 
the  fruit  as  ferved  the  whole  crew,  with  five  to 
each  perfon. 

The  landing  was  but  indifi^erent  en  account 
of  the  furf  i  but  water  is  eafily  obtained. 

After 


ADDITIONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE. 


"  After  afcertaining  the  laft-mentioned  ifland 
to  be  eight  miles  long  and  two  miles  broad,  and 
to  be  fituated  in  fouth  latitude  7°  53',  longitude 
•  219^  47'  eaft  from  Greenwich  (142^  33'  1 5''  weft 
from  Paris)  they  took  leave  of  thefe  iflands  the 
next  morning  -,  and  to  the  norch-eaft  of  the  laft,  at 
the  diftance  of  about  a  league  they  difcovered 
another,  nearly  round  and  much  fmaller*,  with 
two  iflets  lying  off  its  fouth -v,/eft  point  i  to  this 
was  given  the  name  of  Roberts's  Ifland, 

"  Mr.  Hergest  ftates  that,  during  the  time  he 
was  among  thefe  iflands  and  at  the  Marqjjesas, 
they  were  fubjed  to  frequent  heavy  fqualls  and 
much  rain. 

"  He  compares  the  inhabitants  of  this  group  to 
thofe  of  the  Marquesas,  in  colour  and  fize  3  but 
in  manners,  behaviour,  drefs,  and  ornaments,  ex- 
cepting that  of  their  being  lefs  pundlured,  they 
more  refemble  the  people  of  Taheitee  and  the 
Society  Iflands. 

On  the  firft  information  of  the  D^dalus 
having  vifited  thefe  iHands,  (fays  Vancouver 
towards  the  end  of  the  extrad  which  I  have  juft 
given  from  Lieutenant  Hergest's  Journal)  I  con- 
cluded that  they  had  not  been  feen  before,  and  to 
commemorate  the  difcovery  of  a  very  worthy 

I  *  Here  it  appears  that  there  is  a  tranfpofition  in  point  of  time, 
for  Hergeji  muft  have  feen  this  latter  ifiand  when  he  was  ranging 
along  the  eaft  coaft  of  the  former,  and  not  when  he  had  placed  it 
between  him  and  the  latter, 

y  3  though 


294  ADDITIONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE. 


though  unfortunate  friend  *  and  fellow-traveller 
in  my  more  early  periods  of  navigating  thefe  feas, 
1  diftinguiflied  the  whole  group  by  the  name  of 
Hergest's  Islands.  But  I  have  fince  been  in- 
formed, that  thefe  iflands  had  been  difcovered  and 
landed  upon  by  fome  of  the  American  traders,  and 
that,  in  fine  weather,  the  fouthernmoft  is  vifible 
from  Hood's  Ifland,  the  moft  northern  of  the  Mar- 
quesas. Hence  they  are  confidered  by  fome  as 
properly  appertaining  to  that  group,  although  nei- 
ther the  Spanifli  navigator,  Mend  ana,  who  dif- 
covered the  Marquesas,  nor  Captain  Cook  who 
vifited  them  after  him,  had  any  knowledge  of  fuch 
iflands  exifting." 

The  examination  made  by  Lieutenant  Her  g  est, 
of  the  group  of  iflands  fituated  to  the  north-weft 
of  the  Marquesas  de  Mendoça,  will  ferve  me 
to  re(5lify  in  fome  points  that  which  had  been  made 
in  the  month  of  June  1791,  by  Captain  Mar* 

CHAND. 

ifl.  From  the  pofition  which  Arrowsmith's 
Planifphere  had  given  to  Riou's  Ifland  in  regard 
toTREVENÈN's  Ifland  f,  I  might  have  fuppofed  that 
his  Riou's  Ifland  was  the  Ile  Plate  of  Captain 
Marchand  ;  but  it  is  feen,  by  Hergest's  Chart, 
that  Riou's  Ifland  is  fituated  at  the  diftance  or 

*  Mr.  Hergeji  and  Mr.  Gooch  were  afterwards  maflfacrcd  by 
the  natives  of  IVoahoo^  one  of  the  Safidnjoich  Iflands. 
+  See  pages  104  to  107  of  this  volume, 

about 


ADDITIONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE. 


about  feven  leagues  from  coaft  to  coaft,  and  di- 
reftly  to  the  eaftvvard  of  the  middle  of  the  eaftern 
coaft  of  Sir  Henry  Martin's  Ifland  (v^hich  is 
Ile  Baux  in  the  Solide's  Chart),  and  about  ten 
leagues  from  centre  to  centre:  Captain  Marchand, 
from  the  courfe  which  he  held,  could  not  there- 
fore perceive  this  Riou's  Illand,  which  appears 
lefs  elevated  than  the  others  ;  he  never  was  nearer 
to  it  than  twelve  leagues  -,  and  it  was  concealed 
from  him  by  his  Ile  Baux,  when  he  pafled  to  the 
Weftward  of  the  latter. 

On  the  Solide's  chart  mull  be  added  the  Riou's 
Ifland  of  the  D^dalus,  the  centre  of  which  is  to 
be  placed  ten  leagues  to  the  eaftward  of  the  centre 
of  Il£  Baux,  where  it  will  be  fituated  in  8^  54 
fouth  latitude,  and  141°  56  or  57'  weft  from 
Paris. 

2nd.  Lieutenant  FIergest  fixes  the  latitude  of 
his  Trevenen's  Ifland,  Ile  Marchand  of  the 
Solide,  in  9^  14',  and  its  longitude  in  220°  21 
eaft  from  Greenwich,  or  141"^  59'  15''  weft  from 
Paris  ;  and  this  pofition  aniwers  on  his  chart  to 
the  centre  of  the  ifland  ;  but  according  to  the  ob- 
fcrvations  of  Marchand  and  Chanal  in  the 
Solide,  made  at  a  very  little  diftance  from  the 
moft  weftern  point  of  the  fame  ifland,  and  reduced 
to  its  centre,  its  latitude  is  9°  21',  and  its  longitude 
142°  19'  (6"^^  Vol.  I.  page  148)  :  the  latitudes  difl'er 
then  by  feven  minutes,  and  the  longitudes  by 
twenty.    It  is  not  mentioned  in  the  Extra6t  from 

u  4  Her- 


2ij6 


ADDITIONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE. 


FIergest's  Journal  whether  the  latitude  was  by 
obfervation  nor  by  what  means  the  longitude 
was  determined.  I  obferve  that  the  longitude 
fixed  by  Hergest  makes  the  difference  of  meri- 
dian between  the  north-west  Group  and  that  of 
the  Marquesas,  fmaller  by  20  minutes,  or  about 
6}  leagues  than  the  difference  which  refults  from 
the  obfervacions  made  on  board  the  Solide:  for  I 
fuppofe  thatFÎERGESTj  as  was  done  by  Marchand 
and  Chanal,  admitted  the  longitude  of  the  Bay 
of  La  Madre  de  Dios  in  the  Marquesas,  fuch 
as  it  was  deduced  from  the  obfervations  made  in 
Captain  Cook's  fécond  voyage  -f,  and  that  it  is  to 
this  lons^itude  that  he  has  reduced  thofe  of  the 
Iflands  of  the  north-west  Group.  Lieutenant 
Hergest  places  on  his  chart  the  eaftern  coaft  of 
his  Trevenen's  Ifland  (Ile  Marchand)  in  139'' 
34  weft  from  Greenwich,  or  141^  54' weft  from 
Paris:  but  the  weft  point  of  La  Dominica  or 
(o-Hivahoa)  of  the  Marqj-jesas  is  fituated  in 

*  It  is  poffible  that  it  was  only  by  accouitt  ;  for  it  has  been 
feen  in  page  293,  of  this  volume,  that  Hergeji  complains  of 
having  met  with  frequent  heavy  fqualls  and  much  rainy'  du- 
ring the  time  he  was  among  thefe  iflands. 

+  See  Note  XXX.  But  independently  of  the  difference  of 
meridians  eftimated  from  the  dead  reckoning,  Marcha7id  and 
Chanal  determined  by  direct  obfervations  taken  on  the  2 2d 
and  24rh  of  June,  the  longitude  of  l'Ile  Marchand,  and  that  of 
the  Northern  iflands  (See  the  Journal  of  the  Route)  ;  and  the 
refait  of  the  dead  reckoning  differed  not  from  that  of  the  obfer- 
vations. 

141^ 


ADDITIONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE.  297 

141®  31'  15^',  (according  to  Cook's  obfervations 
which  place  the  middle  of  the  ifland  in  141°  22'); 
Trevenen's  Ifland  therefore  could  not  be  eleven- 
leagues  diftant,  to  the  north-weft,  from  the  weft 
point  of  La  Dominica  :  and  can  it  be  fuppofed 
that  Captain  Cook  who,  by  his  route,  flood  as 
far  as  this  point  of  La  Dominica,  and  even  a 
little  without  the  point,  would  not  have  perceived 
a  lofty  ifland  whofe  diftance  had  not  been  eleven 
leagues  ?  I  am  therefore  of  opinion  that  the  lon- 
g;itude  deduced  from  the  obfervations  and  the  dead 
reckoning  of  the  Solide,  which  carries  the  north- 
west GROUP  10  minutes  more  to  the  weftward 
than  the  longitude  afligned  to  it  by  Hergest's 
journal  and  chart,  ought  to  be  preferred  to  the 
latter  v/hich  brings  the  two  groups  too  near  to 
each  other. 

If  this  proof  did  not  appear  fufficient  for  caufing 
the  longitude  of  Ile  Marchand  (Trevenen's 
Ifland),  as  deduced  from  the  obfervations  made 
on  board  the  Solide,  to  be  adopted  in  prefer- 
ence to  that  given  to  this  ifland  by  the  chart  con- 
ftruéled  on  board  the  D^dalus,  I  fliould  obferve 
that  Captain  Marchand  perceived  the  ifland  which 
bears  his  name  from  the  anchorage  of  La  Madre 
de  Dios  (Vol.  I,  pages  214  and  215)3  and  that, 
for  two  fucceflive  days,  in  the  cîeareft  weather,  he 
^et  this  ifland  {or  rather  its  loftieft  peak)  bearing 
between  weft-north-weft  and  north-weft  by  weft, 
allowing  for  the  variation.    The  latitude  of  the 

Bay 


298  ADDITIONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE. 

Bay  of  La  Madre  de  Dios,  according  to  the 
obfcrvations  made  in  Cook's  Second  Voyage,  is 
9^  55'  30'^  and  that  of  Ile  Marchand,  in  its 
middle,  is,  from  the  obfervations  made  on  board 
the  Solide,  9^21':  the  difference  of  latitude  is 
therefore  minutes,  or  34^  miles.  If,  with  this 
difference  of  latitude,  and  this  angle  of  north- we  ft  ' 
by  weft  (33°  45')  the  oblique  triangle  be  folved, 
it  will  be  found  that  the  difference  of  meridian 
between  the  two  points  whofe  latitudes  we  have, 
muft  be  5 if  miles  or  52'  15'^  (in  the  mean  paral- 
lel of  33')  :  that  which  refults  from  the  longi- 
tude of  Marchand's  Ifland,  deduced  from  the 
obfervations  made  on  board  the  Solide,  and  com- 
pared to  the  longitude  of  La  Madre  de  Dios,  is 
only  50'  5^';  it  is  therefore  fmaller  by  1'  \d'  than 
that  given  by  the  calculation  of  the  triangle  :  it  is 
not  then  too  great,  although  it  exceeds,  by  20 
minutes,  the  difference  of  meridian  which  the  chart 
of  the  D^DALus  has  given  between  Trevenen's 
Ifland  (Ile  Marchand)  and  the  Bay  of  La  Madre 
DE  Dios  :  and  it  may  be  feen  that  the  difference 
of  longitude  between  the  two  points  would  be 
much  greater  ftill,  if,  in  preferving  the  angle  of 
bearing  33^  45',  obferved  from  La  Madre  de 
Dios,  we  admitted  the  latitude  of  9°  14'  (in  lieu  of 
9°  21')  which  Lieutenant  Hergest  has  given  to 
Trevenen's  Ifland  (Ile  Marchand)  ^  for  then 
the  diff^erence  of  latitude  between  that  ifland  and 
La  Madre  de  Dios,  would  be  41'  30''  (in  lieu  of 

34 


AUDITIONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE.  Qgg 

!34  30'');  and  the  difference  of  meridian  woulcj 
be  1°  3'  (in  lieu  of  52'  1 5'')  ;  whereas  the  chart  of 

I  the  D^DALus  (ftill  taking  for  the  longitude  of 
La  Madre  de  Dios,  that  of  Cook's  fécond  voy- 
age) makes  the  difference  of  meridian  only  about 

i  half  a  degree. 

'  I  am  therefore  of  opinion  that  we  cannot  hefi- 
tatc  to  prefer,  for  Ile  Marchand  (Trevenen's 
Ifland),  the  longitude  determined  by  the  obferva- 
tions  of  the  Solide,  to  that  affigned  to  it  by  the 
chart  of  the  D:^dalus,  which  is  fmaller  than 
the  former  by  20  minutes:  I  fhould  not  even 
be  aflonifhed  that,  in  the  fequel,  frelh  obfervations 
fhould  prove  that  we  mufl:  rather  increafe  the  dif- 
ference of  meridian,  in  regard  to  La  Madre  de 

'  Dios,  which  was  deduced  from  the  obfervations 
taken  on  board  the  Solide  in  fight  of  her  Ile 
Marchand. 

3.  The  Journal  of  the  D^dalus  gives  for  the 
fituation  of  the  centre  of  Sir  Henry  Martin's 
Ifland  (the  Solide's  Ile  Baux)  latitude  8®  5  î\  and 
longitude  220°  19'eaft  from  Greenwich,  or  141° 
i'  15'^  weft  from  Paris.  According  to  the  obfer- 
vations and  bearings  taken  by  Captains  Marchand 
and  Chanal  (Vol.  I.  page  249)  the  latitude  of  the 
middle  of  the  ifland  is  8°  54',  and  the  longitude 
142°  25':  the  difference  between  the  determination 
of  the  D^dalus,  and  that  of  the  Solide,  is  there- 
fore 3  minutes  in  the  latitgde,  and  24  minutes  in 
the  longitude.    The  difference  of  meridian  be- 

tw^een 


300  ADDITIONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE. 

tween  this  ifland  and  the  preceding  would  be  only 
2  minutes  according  to  Hergest,  and  it  is  6  mi- 
nutes according  to  Marchand  and  Chanals  the 
latter  deduced  the  difference  of  meridian  of  the 
two  iflands  from  bearings  taken  of  both  at  the 
fame  time^  and  crofs  bearings  j  but  I  am  ignorant 
by  what  means  the  former  determined  this  differ- 
ence, fuch  as  it  is  deduced  from  the  relative  fitu- 
ation  given  to  the  two  iflands  in  his  Journal  and  on 
his  Chart. 

4.  The  wefl  coafl  of  the  moft  weftern  of  Her- 
gest's  Rocks  (Les  Deux  Frères  of  the  Solide) 
is  fituated  on  the  Chart  of  the  Dvî:dalus,  in  latitude 
8°  37'  30'^  and  140"^  10'  weft  from  Greenwich, 
or  142^  40'  15'^  weft  from  Paris*,  and  on  the 
Solide's  chart,  in  latitude  8°  42^,  and  longitude 
142°  55^  the  difference  of  the  latitudes  is  4  mi- 
nutes and  a  half,  and  that  of  the  longitudes  15 
minutes.  From  within  fight  of  Ile  Baux  (Sir 
Henry  Martin's  Ifland  of  the  Englifh),  the  So- 
lide ftood  directly  for  the  Rocks  named  by  the 
French  Les  Deux  Frères  s  fhe  pafTed,  within  a 
quarter  of  a  mile,  to  the  weftward  of  the  moft 
weftern  ;  and,  from  this  pofltion.  Captain  Mar- 
chand took  the  bearing  of  the  rock  in  regard  to 
the  north- weft  point  of  the  ifland:   Les  Deux 

*  For  the  comparifon  I  employ  the  pofition  which  the  Chart 
afTigns  to  iht(t  Rocks;  for  it  has  been  feen  before,  (page  29^ 
note  *  )  that  the  pofition  given  to  them  by  the  Journal  is  very 
different  from  that  in  which  they  are  laid  down  on  the  chart. 

Frères 


ADDITIONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE.  3OI 

Frères  lie,  with  refpe6l  to  ea&?i  other,  eaft  and 
weft.  As  no  mention  is  made  in  the  Journal  of 
the  D^ï:dalus  of  the  method  employed  for  fixing 
the  pofition  of  the  rocks  in  regard  to  Sir  Henry 
Martin's  Ifland ;  and  as  their  diftance  from  that 
ifland  fuch  as  it  is  given  by  the  Journal  is  very 
different  from  that  affigned  to  them  on  the  Chart 
which  accompanies  it,  I  think  that  we  ought  to 
adhere  to  the  pofition  refulting  from  the  route  and 
the  bearing-s  of  the  Solide. 

5.  The  refult  of  the  obfervations  for  the  lati- 
tude and  longitude  made  by  Captains  Marchand 

I  "and  Chanal  on  the  24th  of  June  (Vol.  I.  page  249) 
combined  with  bearings  taken  of  the  land,  places 
the  middle  of  Ile  Masse,  that  is,  the  moft  fouthern 
elevated  part  of  the  little  group  of  Roberts's 

■  Iflands  in  the  Englifh  Chart,  in  latitude  B°  or  8° 
I'j  and  longitude  142°  52^:  this  fame  point  is 
fituated,  on  the  Englifn  Chart,  in  latitude  y°  57', 
and  longitude  140®  13'  30'' weft  from  Greenwich, 
or  142^  33''  45''  weft  from  Paris  :  the  difference 
between  the  two  pofitions  is  therefore  from  3  to  4 
minutes  in  the  latitudes,  and  18'^  minutes  in  the 
longitudes.  It  is  feen  that,  on  the  French  chart, 
the  Iles  Masse  and  Chanal  occupy  together  16 
minutes  in  latitude  ;  while  the  group  of  Roberts's 
Iflands,  v/hich  reprefcnt  the  former  on  the  Englifh 
chart,  there  occupy  only  10  minutes.  They  are 
placed  on  the  Solide's  chart  according  to  a  bear« 
ing  (in  which  allowance  is  made  for  the  variation 

of 


gOa  ADDITIONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE. 

of  the  compafs)  taken  on  the  24th  of  June  at  noon, 
at  the  moment  of  the  obfervation  for  the  latitude, 
and  inferted  in  the  manufcript  journal  of  Captain 
Chanal  as  follows  :  Ile  Masse,  from  eaft  30** 
fouth  to  eaft  8  or  10°  fouth,  diftant  fix  leagues  : 
Ile  Chanal,  from  eaft  to  eaft  10°  north,  twelve 
leagues.  If  it  were  wilhed  to  attribute  to  an  error 
in  the  Solide's  bearings,  the  difference  of  6  mi- 
nutes that  is  to  be  found  between  the  fpace  which 
the  group  of  thefe  iflands  occupies  in  latitude  on 
the  one  chart,  and  that  which  it  occupies  on  the 
other,  we  muft  fuppofe  that  a  much  greater  error 
has  been  committed  with  refped  to  the  diftance  of 
fix  leagues  at  which  the  Solide  was  eftimated  from 
Ile  Masse,  which  was  the  neareft  to  her.  I  there- 
fore prefume  that  the  difference  of  the  parallels  be- 
tween which  the  group  is  comprehended,  muft  be 
larger  than  it  is  on  the  chart  of  the  D.ï:dalus. 
But  I  am,  at  the  fame  time,  of  opinion,  that  the 
configuration  and  the  difpofition  of  thefe  iflands, 
fuch  as  they  are  feen  on  the  Englifh  chart,  is  far 
preferable  to  thofe  which  are  delineated  on  the 
French  chart.  Lieutenant  Her  g  est  vifited  them 
and  examined  them  minutely  ;  whereas.  Captain 
Marchand  faw  them  only  in  pafTing,  and  at  a 
fufHcient  diftance  to  leave  a  great  uncertainty  ref- 
pedling  any  other  determination  than  of  the  differ- 
ence of  latitude  of  the  two  extreme  north  and 
fouth  points,  and  their  relative  pofition  in  regard 

tQ 

6 


ADDITIONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE.  303 

to  the  Ile  Baux  of  the  Solide,  the  Sir  Henry 
Martin's  Ifland  of  the  D^dalus. 

In  recapitulating  the  differences  which  we  have 
difcovered  between  the  two  charts,  it  is  feen  that 
all  the  latitudes  and  longitudes  of  the  Englifh 
chart  are  fmaller  than  thofe  of  the  French  chart  ; 
namely  : 


in 

For  Isle  Marchand,  or 

Lat. 

in  Long* 

Trevenen's  Ifland 

7' 

ao' 

For  Ile  Baux,  or  Sir  Henry 

Martin's  Ifland 

3 

24 

For  Les  Deux  Frères,  or 

Hergest's  Rocks 

4i 

«5 

For  Isle  Masse,  the  fouth  part 

of  Roberts's  Iflands 

3 

18 

From  the  reafons  which  I  have  ftated,  I  am 

of  opinion  that  the  Englifli  chart,  by  giving  to  the* 
NORTH-WEST  Group  a  longitude  lefs  wefterly  than 
that  which  refults  from  the  obfervations  made  on 
board  the  Solide,  brings  this  group  too  near  to 
that  of  the  Marquesas  de  Mendoça,  As  for  the 
latitudes,  fuppofing  that  all  thofe  inferted  in  Her- 
gest's  Journal  were  enervation,  of  which  we  are 
ignorant;  the  diff^erences  between  thofe  obferved 
on  board  the  Solide,  with  the  exception  of  the 
firft  which  is  7  minutes,  are  fo  fmall  that  we  may- 
imagine  they  are  owing  to  the  difference  of  the 
inftruments,  to  the  manner  of  obferving,  &c.  And 
we  might  take  for  the  true  latitudes,  the  mean 

between 


304  ADDITIOf^S'  TO  THE  NARRATIVE, 


between  the  refuks  given  by  the  two  navigators, 
the  more  efpecially  as  they  are  not  reduced  to  a 
determined  point,  fuch  as  a  cape,  a  harbour,  &c. 
but  to  the  centre  of  each  ifland. 

If  I  wiiTied  to  conftruâ:  a  chart  of  the  group 
fituated  to  the  north- weft  of  the  Marquesas  de 
Mendoça,  I  would  make  ufe  of  the  pofitions  with 
which  we  are  furnifhed  by  the  Solide's  journal; 
but  I  would  employ  for  the  extent  and  the  con- 
figuration of  the  iflands,  to  which  I  would  add 
Riou's  Ifland,  thofe  given  them  by  the  chart  con- 
ftrudted  in  the  voyage  of  the  D^dalus;  for,  with 
the  exception  of  Ile  Marchand  (the  Trevenen's 
Ifland  of  Hergest),  the  others  were  not  fecn  from 
the  Solide  but  at  a  diftance  which  admits  of  pre- 
fencing  maffes  only  -,  whereas  they  were  moflly 
vifited,  and  furveyed  more  minutely  by  iheDjEOA- 
Lus.  We  are  indebted  to  Li'eutenant  Hergest 
for  a  knowledge  of  the  excellent  harbour,  called 
by  him  Port  Anna  Maria,  on  the  fouth  coaft 
of  Ile  Baux,  or  Sir  Henry  Martin's  Ifland, 
and  of  a  bay  fltuated  on  the  fame  coaft  near  its 
fouth-eaft  point,  which  had  the  appearance  of  a 
fafe  and  commodious  port  :  it  cannot  but  be  con- 
fidered  as  a  fortunate  circumftance  to  have  difco- 
vered  two  good  harbours  in  a  populous  and  fertile 
ifland,  in  the  midft  of  other  iflands  which  are  equafly 
fo,  and  in  a  latitude  where  it  was  of  importance 
to  be  acquainted  with  places  of  flielter  which  can 

furnifli 

•  4 


ADDITIONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE.  305 

fiirnifh  water  and  refrefhments  to  fliips  croffing 
the  Great  Ocean. 

What  we  read,  in  the  extrad  from  the  journal 
oftheD^DALus,  refpedling the  peaceable,  friendly, 

'[  and  hofpitable  dilpofition  of  the  natives  of  thefe 
iflands,  agrees  perfedly  with  what  has  been  related 
of  them  in  the  Narrrativc  of  Marchandas  Voyage 
(Vol.  I.  pages  225,  226,  231,  and  232,) 

It  has  been  feen  (pages  280,  and  281  of 
this  Vol.)  by  the  extrad  from  the  voyage  of  the 
American  Captain,  Roberts,  that  the  natives  of 
the  NORTH-WEST  Group  fometimes  have  a  com- 
munication  with  thofe  of  the  south-east  Group, 
fince  that  Captain  met  at  La  Madre  de  Dios  in 
Wahitaho,  one  of  the  Marquesas,  an  old  man 
of  feventy-five  years  of  age,  born  atÛNHAWA,  one 
0f  the  iflands  of  the  north-west  Group,  to  whom 
hé  gave  a  paflage  in  his  fhip,  and  whom  he  landed 
at  Newheve  *,  another  ifland  of  the  fame  group. 
It  will  not  be  fuppofed  that  an  old  man  had  em- 
barked in  a  fhip,  with  flrangers,  folely  far  the 
pleafure  of  rambling  over  the  world,  of  which 

'  he  could  have  no  idea  5  it  is  probable  that  he  in- 
timated in  fome  way  to  Captain  Roberts,  that  he 
was  born  in  a  diftant  land  whofe  fituation  in  regard 

j  to  Wahitaho  he  pointed  ^out  -,  and  that,  on  this 

*  To  judge  from  the  latitude  of  8°  56',  which  Captain  Roherts 
I   affigns  to  the  Ifland  of  Nenjubeve^  (page  281,  of  this  Vol.)  this 
muft  be  the  He  Baux  of  the  SoUdey  the  Sir  Henry  Martin's  Ifland 
of  the  Daedalus* 

vol/iu  X  indi- 


3o6 


ADDITIONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE. 


indication,  the  American  Captain  propofed  to  him 
to  take  him  on  board  his  lliip,  giving  him  the 
hope  that  he  would  foon  reftore  him  to  his  native 
country.  But  Captain  Roberts  having  met  a 
native  of  the  iflands  of  the  north-west  Group 
on  an  ifland  of  the  south-east  Group,  does  not 
prove  that  the  communication  from  the  one  group 
to  the  other  is  habitual  j  the  age  even  of  this  in- 
habitant of  the  NORTH-WEST  Group,  and  the  de- 
termination which  he  ventured  to  take  of  abandon- 
ing himfelf  to  ftrange  men,  who  muft  have  ap- 
peared formidable  to  him,  but  who  promifed  to 
carry  him  back  to  his  own  country,  feem  to  in- 
dicate that  the  means  of  communication  from  the 
one  group  to  the  other  are  as  difficult  to  thefe 
iflanders,  as  the  opportunities  of  them  muft  be 
rare  :  Captain  Cook  and  Captain  Marchand  never 
faw  at  La  Madre  de  Dios  any  ôther  canoes  than 
thofe  which  had  come  thither  from  O-Hivahoa, 
Mendana*»  La  Dominica. 


FOURTH 


ADDITIONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE. 


FOURTH  ADDITION, 

For  the  IJland  of  Tinian, 

IN  the  Narrative  of  Marchandas  Voyage 
(pages  51  to  80  of  this  Vol.),  I  have  prefented 
two  very  different  pi6i:ures  of  the  Ifland  of  Ti  ni  an  : 
that  which  Richard  Walter^  Chaplain  to  Com- 
modore Ansonj  has  drawn  us  of  the  ftate  of  the 
ifland  in  1742  ;  and  that  of  the  ftate  in  which  it 
has  appeared  in  later  times  :  in  17653  to  Com- 
modore Byron;  in  1767,  to  Captain  Wallis ; 
in  1787,  to  Captain  Portlock  ;  in  1788,  to 
Captain  Gilbert  and  to  Captain  Sever,  fepa- 
rately.  I  ought  likewife  to  have  mentioned  the 
defcription  given  of  it  by  Lieutenant  Georg? 
Mortimer,  of  the  Marines,  a  paffenger  on  board 
the  brig  Mercury,  commanded  by  Captain  Henry 
Cox,  who  touched  at  Tinian  on  the  12th  of  De- 
cember 1789,  and  came  to  an  anchor  in  that  very 
|road,  off  the  fouth-weft  point  of  the  ifland,  where 
all  the  navigators  of  his  nation  who  preceded  him, 
had  alio  anchored.  I  fliall  repair  this  omiflion,  and 
make  Lieutenant  Mortimer  fpeak  for  himfelf*. 

'  *  OhferijattQns  and  Remarks  made  during  a  <voyage  to  the 
ffiands  of  leneriffey  8cc. — North-n^efl  coaji  of  America,  &c. — - 
Otaheltej  Sec. — Tlnlauy  and  thence  to  Canton. — In  the  Brig 
Mercury,  commanded  by  I.  H.  Cox,  Efq,  By  Lieut.  George 
t^ortimer  of  the  Marines^  Londop,  179Ï.  4to.  pages  64  ar>d 
following. 

X  a  .     «  On 


ADDITIONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE.^ 


On  our  arrival,  a  fine  breeze  fetting  off  the 
land,  fainted  us  with  the  moft  fragrant  and  delight- 
ful odours  i  and  we  were  foon  gratified  with  the 
fight  of  fo me  beautiful  white  cattle,  feeding  and 
frifliing,  about  among   the  trees;   which  addccf 
greatly  to  the  charmin-g  appearance  of  this  iflaocl. 
The  boats  were  hoifled  out,  and  the  captain  with 
a  party  of  us  went  on  fliore,  where  we  expedled 
to  procure  forae  frefli  beefj  but  were  difappoint- 
cd,  as  the  cattle  retired  among  the  woods  the  inftant  ' 
they  faw  us  ;  and  it  would  have  been  in  vain  to 
have  purfued  them  for  the  underwood  was  nearly 
impenetrable  :   we  therefore  returned  on  board 
again,  after  having  loaded  the  boat  with  wood, 
and  gathered  a  quantity  of  fine  limes. 

The  next  morning  we  went  on  fhoFe  again^ , 
and  landed  further  to  the  no'rthward  than  we  had  Î 
done  on  the  preceding  day.  Here  we  found  feveral 
huts  erected  by  the  Spaniards  who  come  here  an- 
nually from  their  fcttkment  at  Guam  to  procure 
beef  for  the  garrifon  of  that  ifland.  The  Spaniards, 
or  fome  other  people,  muft  have  quitted  Tinian 
but  a  very  lliort  time  before  our  arrival,  as  they  had 
left  a  wild  hog  in  a  ftye,-  that  had  died  but  lately,  '  | 
and  a  fine  dog,  which  we  caught,  and  carried  on 
board  with  us.    We  were  directed  by  a  beaten  j 
path,  about  forty  yards  in  length  from  the  Fiuts, 
to  the  well  mentioned  by  Lord  Anson  and  Com- 
modore Byron  ;  and  though  the  water  it  contains 
is  not'  the  befi:  in  the   world,  it  by  no  means  | 

defervcs 


ADDITIONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE.  309 

deferves  the  reproaches  beftowed  upon  it  by  the 
Commodore,  fince  we  neither  found  it  brackilh 
nor  full  of  worms,  as  he  affefts  it  to  have  been*. 
And  here  I  cannot  help  obferving,  that  this  gen- 
tleman feems  to  have  taken  as  much  pains  to 
depreciate  this  ifland,  as  Lord  Anson  had  been 
too  lavifli  in  his  encomiuins  on  it  j*  i  for,  whatever 
may  have  been  the  ftate  of  Tinian  when  his 
Lordfhip  was  there,  future  vifiters  may  look  about 
in  vain  for  thofe  delightful  lawns,  painted  in  fuch 
glowing  colours  by  the  author  of  his  voyage. 

Our  people  being  fet  to  work  to  cut  wood  for 
fuel,  and  other  purpofec,  I  fet  out  from  the  huts 
where  t^hey  were  ftationed,  in  company  with  our 
third  fnate  and  one  of  the  feamen,  in  purfuit  of 
game.  We  at  firft  followed  the  traces  of  a  path  ; 
but  it  foon  failing  us,  we  were  obliged  to  force 

*  Commodore  Byro»  was  at  Tlnlan  in  the  month  of  Auguft, 
and  Captain  C<?x,  in  the  month  of  December,  the  difference  of 
the  feafons  might  probably  occafion  a  difference  in  the  ftate  of  a 
aveîl:  Captain  Gilbert,  in  the  month  of  Auguil  1 7 88,  foun4 
it  dry. 

+  It  is  difficult  to  pronounce  between  two  voyagers,  who 
both  declai;^,  /  /aiv  it  ;  we  mufl,  however,  remark,  that  all 
the  navigators  who  h,av,e  touched  at  Tinia?i  fmce  Byron  defcribed 
to  us  its  prefent  ftate,  have  confirmed  what  he  has  faid  of  it. 

The  manner  in  which  feamen  view  objeéls  depends  a  little 
on  the  fituation  in  whicli  they  find  themfelves  when  they  land 
in  a  country  :  we  are  lefs  difficult  in  proportion  as  we  haye  more 
wants  ;  the  land  has  fo  many  charms,  when,  for  a  length  of 
time,  we  have  been  condemned  Co  fee  nothing  but  (ky  and 
water ,! 

X  3  our 


310  ADDITIONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE. 

our  way  through  the  thickets,  in  hopes,  as  we  got 
into  the  interior  part  of  the  country,  we  lliould  get 
clear  of  the  trees  and  underwood  :  which  we  did, 
after  having  proceeded  a  confiderable  diftance  with 
great  labour  and  fatigue  ;  but  we  were  ftill  fo  much 
incommoded  by  a  kind  of  wood  that  grew  as  high 
as  our  breads,  by  the  heat,  and  by  an  intolerable 
number  of  flies,  that  I  quitted  my  companions, 
who  wiflied  to  penetrate  a  little  farther  into  the 
country,  and  made  the  beft  of  my  way  back  to  the 
wooding  party  at  the  huts,  whei;e  I  did  not  arrive 
till  late  in  the  afternoon,  being  nearly  exhaufted 
with  the  fatigue  of  pufliing  through  the  bufhes, 
and  climbing  trees,  to  fee  that  I  was  going  in  a 
proper  diredion,  which  was  a  very  ncceffary  pre- 
caution, as  I  was  at  one  time  loft  for  upwards  of 
two  hours.  I  met  with  a  great  many  wild  hogs; 
and  I  had  nearly  ftumbled  upon  an  animal  which, 
on  being  roufed,  darted  through  the  thicket  with* 
fuch  velocity,  that  I  could  not  diftinguifh  what  it 
was  j  but  fuppofe  it  to  have  been  one  of  the  gua- 
nacocs  defcrlbed  by  Lord  Anson,  and  which  are 
faid  to  abound  in  the  neighbouring  Iflands  of 
Saypan  and  Aguigan.  I  faw  alfo  fome  fowls  in 
my  ramble,  and  fhot  a  pig.  Our  third  mate,  who 
returned  about  half  an  hour  after  me,  reported, 
that  foon  after  I  had  feparated  from  him,  he  fell  in 
with  a  herd  of  cattle,  and  fhot  one  of  them,  a  fine 
young  bull  -,  but,  having  only  one  man  with  him, 
and  it  being  a  confiderable  diftance  from  the 

beach, 


"ADDITIONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE. 


beach,  he  was  obliged  to  leave  the  carcafs  in  the 
charge  of  his  companion,  who  confented  to  remain 
with  it  all  night  ;  being  apprehenfive  they  might 
not  have  found  the  place  again,  had  they  both 
returned  together. 

Next  morning,  a  party  was  fent  to  procure 
fome  of  the  animal  ;  but,  upon  their  arrival,  the 
greater  part  of  it  was  found  to  be  tainted  and  en- 
tirely fpoiled  ;  however,  fome  pieces  were  cut  from 
the  parts  that  were  the  lead  afFedted  and  brought 
on  board,  which  furnilhed  us  with  an  excellent 
difh  of  foup,  and  fome  (leaks,  the  meat  being  very 
tender  and  fine  grained  (we  have  no  difficulty  in 
believing  it,  quid  non  fames  /)    Wild  hogs  and 
poultry  are  in  great  abundance  at  Tinian  ;  and 
though  the  latter  are  Ihy  and  difficult  to  come  at, 
on  account  of  the  underwood,  it  is  pleafing  to 
hear  them  crowing  and  cackling  in  every  direction  ; 
fo  that  it  is  difficult  to  diveft  one's  felf  of  the 
idea  of  being  in  the  vicinity  of  fome  country  vil- 
lage, or  large  farm-yard.  Tinian  produces  plenty 
of  limes,  lemons,  guavas,  fome  cocoa-nuts,  cuftard- 
apples,  and  indifferent  oranges,  with  a  variety  of 
beautiful  trees,  among  which  was  the  bramin  and 
bread-fruit  trees,  but  the  latter  had  no  fruit  upon 
them  ;   and  the  cotton  flirub.    In  our  different 
cxcurfions  on  lliore,  we  met  with  the  remains  of 
feveral  of  thofe  curious  edifices  defcribed  by  Lord 
Anson,  and  fuppofed  to  have  been  ereded  by 
the  original  inhabitants  of  the  ifland.  Thefe  iDuild- 

^  4  ings 


312  ^    ADDITIONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE, 

ings  are  of  a  mod  fingular  ftrudure,  and  confift, 
in  their  prefent  ftate,  of  two  ranges  of  columns, 
cither  of  ftone  or  compofition,  and  of  a  pyrami- 
dical  form,  having  large  femi-gfcbes  placed  on 
their  tops,  with  their  furfaces  upwards. 

"  If  thefe  ftrudlures  are  really  of  ftone,  which 
I  imagine  them  to  be,  it  is  aftonifliing  how  a  rude 
and  uncivilized  people,  unacquainted  with  any  of 
the  arts  necefiary  for  the  purpofe,  and  without 
proper  tools,  could  have  formed  and  ere6led  them*. 
We  meafured  one  of  the  pillars,  and  its  femi-globe 
or  capital,  the  dimenfions  of  which  were  as  fol- 
low : 

Feet  Inches. 

Perpendicular  height  of  the  pyramid  . .  14  o 

Breadth  at  the  bafe   5  4 

Diameter  of  the  femi-globe   5  IP 

"  Having  got  on  board  a  fufficient  ftock  of 
wood,  and  filled  our  empty  water- calks,  we  got 
under  way  in  the  evening,  and  ftood  to  the  weft- 
ward.  The  thermometer,  while  we  lay  in  the  road 
of  TiNiAN,  kept,  with  little  variation,  at  83*; 
but  the  heat  was  confiderably  more  intenfe  on 
fliore." 

*  We  are  lefs  aftonifhed  at  the  circumftances,  when  we  arc 
acquainted  with  the  cohjfal fiatues  which  the  inhabitants  of  Eafter 
Ille,  full  as  deftitute  of  implements  and  tools  as  thofe  of  T'tman 
could  be,  have  erefted,  in  ancient  times,  on  the  circumference 
of  their  ifland.  [See  the  Voyage  of  the  Dutch  Admiral  Rog- 
genjceen. — See  alfo  Cook'^  Second  Voyage. — La  Perou/e'^  Voy- 
age, &c.) 

It 


ADDITIONS  TO  THE  NARRATIVE.  313 

It  has  been  feen  (page  64,  note  *  of  this  Vol.) 
that  Anson*s  hiftorian  was  of  opinion  that  the  pil- 
lars and  maffive  femi-globes  by  which  they  are  fur- 
mounted,  were  formed  of  fand  and  ftone  cemented 
together,  and  covered  with  plafler:  Mortimer 
thought  them  of  ftone  or  composition.  Byron 
who  caufed  the  Ifland  of  Saypan  to  be  vifited,  in 
1765,  tells  us,  that  there  were  feen  on  it  many 
"  of  thofe  fquare  pyramidal  pillars  which  are  to 
*•  be  found  at  Tin i an,  and  which  are  particularly 

defcribed  in  the  account  of  Lord  Anson's  voy- 

age  but  he  does  not  fay  whether  he  himfelf 
fawanyof  them  at  Tinian  :  in  voyages  more  re- 
cent than  that  of  Byron,  no  mention  is  made  of 
the  monuments  of  the  latter  ifland  -,  and  this  filence 
had  led  me  to  conclude  that  time  had  deftroyed 
them.  But  it  is  feen,  by  the  detail  into  which 
Mortimer  has  entered,  that  they  were  ftill  ftanding 
at  the  end  of  December  1789;  and  forty-feveh 
years  which  had  elapfed  between  Anson's  voyage 
and  that  of  Cox,  appeared  not  to  have  affedied 
them,  which  may  be  confidered  as  furprifing  in 
works  expofed  to  the  injuries  of  the  air,  to  heavy 
rains,  and  to  exceffive  heats  :  it  muft  be  imagined 
that  their  conftrudion  was  folid,  and  that  excellent 
materials  were  employed  in  it  ;  for  it  is  well  known 
that,  when  Anson  faw  them  for  the  firft  time,  the 
Spaniards  already  regarded  them  as  monuments  of 
great  antiquity. 

Paris,  25  Floreal,  year  VII  of  the  French  Era. 
(14th  May  1799.) 

RESULTS 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


RESULTS  OF  THE  OBSERVATIÔNS 

FOR  THE 

LATITUDE  AND  LONGITUDE, 

Made  on  board  the  Jhip  Solide^  in  the  courje  of  her 
Voyage  round  the  Worlds  Jerving  to  determine  the 
changes  occaftoned  hy  the  Currents  in  the  apparent 
tourje  and  rate  of  failing  of  the  jhip^  in  the  different 
tra6îs  of  Jea  which  fhe  croffedy  as  well  as  the 
error  in  the  calculation  of  the  dead  reckoning  in 
the  interval  of  the  obfervationsy  and  at  the  period  of 
each  land'falL 

rpHE  numerous  obfervations  for  the  latitude  and 
longitude  made  on  board  the  Solide,  in  her 
Voyage  round  the  World,  have  furniflied  me  with 
the  data  neceffary  for  eftimating,  with  a  correcl- 
nefs  fufficient  for  the  information  of  navigators, 
the  efFe6l  which  the  Ihip  experienced  from  the 
currents  in  the  different  traéls  of  fea  that  Ihe  crofied. 
I  have  thought  that  this  efFe6t  might  be  known, 
at  lead  by  approximation,  if  the  progrefs  in  lati- 
tude and  longitude,  fuch  as  it  was  announced  by 
the  refuits  of  the  aftronomical  obfervations,  was 
compared  with  the  progrefs  for  the  fame  inter- 
vals, fuch  as  it  was  deduced  from  the  ordinary 

calculation 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


calculation  of  the  Ihip's  run  ;  and  I  have  fuppofed 
that  ail  the  errors  of  the  dead  reckonings  indicated 
by  the  refults  of  thefe  comparifons,  ought  to  be 
attributed  to  the  unperceived  a6lion  of  the  cur- 
rents which  had  driven  the  fhip  out  of  her  apparent 
courfe,  and  occafioned  her  to  make,  in  a  direction 
different  from  that  fhc  had  appeared  to  follow,  a 
progrefs,  which,  by  the  ufual  methods  of  keep- 
ing a  reckoning,  could  not  be  eflimated,  either  as 
to  its  length,  or  as  to  the  degree  of  velocity  with 
which  it  had  been  effeded. 

But,  in  order  to  admit  that  this  fuppofition 
has  conduded  me  to  true  refults,  two  others  muft 
likewife  be  admitted:  the  former,  that  the  errors 
of  the  dead  reckoning  depended  folely  on  the  efFe6t 
of  the  currents;  the  latter,  that  the  obfervations 
of  the  moon's  diftance  from  the  fun  or  ftars,  gave 
refults  fufficiently  certain  for  us  to  be  able  to  de- 
duce from  them,  as  from  fixed  points,  the  refults 
of  the  calculations  of  the  dead  reckoning.  I  do 
not  therefore  prefent,  as  ftridlly  correal  determi- 
nations, thofe  which  are  founded  on  thefe  fuppo- 
fitions  ;  and  it  muft  not  thence  be  concluded  that 
the  direction  and  degree  of  velocity  imprefîèd  on 
the  Ihip,  in  each  trad  of  fea,  by  the  a6lion  of  the 
currents,  were  firiElly  thofe  given  me  by  the  refults 
of  my  calculations  :  ftill  lefs  muft  it  be  expeded 
that,  at  all  times,  in  the  fame  trad  of  fea  they 
will  again  be  found  the  fame.  But  my  labour 
will  indicate  to  navigators  what  ufeful  employment 

they 


3 lé  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 

they  can  make  of  lunar  obfervations,  for  the  pnr- 
poie  of  improving  this  branch  of  hydrography, 
which,  hitherto,  has  been  too  much  negledled  :  for, 
if  on  the  one  hand,  from  the  want  of  precifion 
in  the  obfêrvations,  and  on  the  other,  from  the 
uncertainty  of  the  dead  reckoning,  the  errors  of 
which  may  not  always  arife  from  the  fole  a6lion 
of  the  currents,  the  determinations  of  the  efFed 
of  the  movement  of  the  waters  on  the  Ihip's  courfe, 
fuch  as  I  have  deduced  them,  do  not  prefcnt  theiH- 
felves  with  the  confidence  of  geometrical  exa6t- 
nefs,  they  may  at  leafi:  be  confidered  as  approxi- 
mations, which  cannot  be  very  wide  of  the  truth  -, 
and  in  their  flate  of  imperfection,  they  will  ftill  be 
of  great  utility  to  fhips  that  fliall  traverfe  the  trads 
of  fea  which  the  Solide  crofled  in  her  circumna- 
vigation of  the  globe*. 

It 

*  The  lunar  method  not  being  able  to  give  the  longitude 
at  fea  without  an  uncertainty  of  about  half  a  degree,  a  precifion 
fulficient  when  the  queftion  is  to  make  the  land  after  a  long  voy- 
age, it  cannot  indicate  with  a  precifion  of  which  we  are  cer- 
tain, little  differences  of  meridian  ;  becaufe  the  error  of  one  of 
ths  two  obfervations,  the  compared  refuits  of  which  indicate  the 
progrefs  in  longitude,  may  lometimes  exceed  thefe  little  differ- 
ences, and  even  indicate  them  in  a  direction  contrary  to  the 
true  one.  This  is  not  the  cafe  with  the  determinations  which 
are  obtained  from  aftronomical  watches  and  clocks,  from  //w^?- 
ieepers  or  chronometers  :  the  fmaller  are  the  intervals  of  time,  the 
greater  is  the  precifion  of  the  refult  ;  becaufe,  in  a  fmall  interval, 
the  time-keeper  has  more  certainly  preferved  the  regularity  of 
^js  rate  of  going, 

,.  We 


M  AKC  H  A  N     S  V  O  Y  AG  E . 


3^7 


ÏC  vvili  be  remarked  that,  in  general,  in  the  parts 
of  the  Atlantic  Ockak  and  of  the  Great  Ocean 
that  the  fhip  crofled,  the  currents  which  fet  to 
the  Northivard,  aifo  fet  to  the  Eaftward  ;  while 
thofe  which  fet  to  tht Southward,  fet  at  the  fame 
time  to  the  Weftward:   but  the  quantities  with 
which  they  a6t  in  the  direélion  of  the  latitude  and 
in  that  of  the  longitude^  are  neither  equal  in  them- 
felves,  nor  confiant  ;  whence  refult  degrees  of  ve- 
locity which  differ  more  or  lefs,  and  directions, 
which  make  angles  more  or  lefs  _  open  with  the 
Meridians  or  with  the  Parallels.  When  the  direc- 
tions, which  at  the  fame  time  partake  of  Northing 
and  Eajllng^  or  of  Southing  and  Wefting,  ceafe  to 
have  place,  this  change  appears  to  be  owing  to 


We  cannot  too  ftrongly  recommend  to  navigators  to  blend  the 
two  methods  ;  they  will  lend  to  each  other  mutual  aid  ;  the 
time-keepers  will  correél  the  refults  of  the  lunar  obfervations, 
when  it  is  required,  in  the  courfe  of  a  fhip's  run,  to  determine 
the  little  progrefles  in  longitude,  and  to  afccrtain  what  has 
been  the  daily  influence  of  the  currents  on  the  veffePs  courfe  ; 
but,  when  drawing  near  the  end  of  a  long  pafTage,  it  is  of 
importance  to  know  with  certainty  the  true  pofition  of  the  fhip 
with  refped  to  the  place  where  it  is  wifhed  to  make  the  land, 
the  refults  of  repeated  lunar  obfervations,  compared  with  thofe 
given  by  the  chronometer  at  the  fame  periods,  will  (hew  whether 
the  latter  have  not  experienced  fome  confiderable  derangement 
in  its  rate  ;  and  fliould  there  be  found,  between  the  two  refults, 
a  difference  which  might  exceed  a  degree,  as  it  would  not  en- 
tirely belong  to  the  error  of  the  lunar  obfervaîions,  a  mean 
ihould  be  adopted  between  tiie  two  refults,  in  order  to  have  a 
determination  according  to  which  the  ziavigator  might  dired 
hib"  courfe  v/ith  fafety. 

the 


gîB  MARèHAND's  VOYAGE. 


the  particular  difpofition  and  configuration  of  îands 
pot  far  diftant  from  the  fhip's  track,  to  gulfs,  to 
channels  or  mouths  of  great  rivers,  v/hich  occafion 
accidental  and  extraordinary  currents,  the  cfîèél  of 
which  the  navigator  ceafes  to  feel  as  foon  as  he 
has  paffed  the  fpace  of  fea  to  which  their  a6lion  is 
limited  ;  and  he  foon  finds  again  the  general  cur- 
rentj  that  which  reigns  in  the  offing,  whofe  efFedl 
it  is,  no  doubt,  lefs  difficult  to  determine  on  a 
Ihip  which  it  mafters,  than  to  affign  its  caufe. 

If,  at  a  future  period,  after  the  obfervations 
which  navigators  wiil  find  means  to  mukiply  for 
the  advancement  of  fcience  and  for  their  own  in- 
tereft,  we  fhould  happen  to  be  convinced,  that^  in 
the  parts  of  the  two  Oceans,  crofTed  by  the  So- 
lide's  track,  the  currents  which  carry  a  ihip  to 
the  Northward  carry  her  conftantly  to  the  Eaftward^ 
and  that  thofe  which  carry  her  to  the  Southwardy 
carry  her  at  the  fame  time  to  the  Weftward^  this 
certainty  would  afford  a  mean  of  guarding,  in  part, 
againfl  the  errors  in  the  dead  reckoning  towards 
the  Eaft  or  the  Weft^  on  fuch  days  as  the  ilate  of 
the  weather  fliould  not  allow  of  making  obferva- 
tions of  the  moon's  diftance  from  the  fun  or  ftars, 
or  of  having  recourfe  to  a  time-keeper  for  de- 
termining the  longitude  :  for  if,  by  fome  one  of 
thofe  methods  of  which  feamen  are  at  this  day  in 
poITeffion,  the  true  latitude  of  the  fliip  can  be 
known,  the  difference  between  her  real  progrefs 
in  the  interval  from  one  day  of  obfervation  to  the 
6  other. 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


m 


Other,  and  the  progrefs  indicated  by  the  dead 
reckoning  for  the  fame  interval,  will  fhew  how 
much,  and  on  what  fide,  in  the  diredion  of  the 
latitude,  the  fliip  has  been  driven  out  of  her  appa- 
rent courfe  ;  and  thence  will  be  deduced,  if  not 
how  much,  at  leaft  on  what  fide,  flie  mufl:  have 
been  deranged  in  the  direction  of  the  longitude  : 
as  to  the  quantity  of  this  derangement,  it  may  be 
prefumed  from  the  refults  of  the  obfervations  that 
have  been  made  on  the  preceding  days  in  the  traét 
of  fea  the  neareft  to  that  in  which  the  Ihip  is 
failing. 

But  this  apparent  uniformity  in  the  currents, 
this  movement,  which,  in  the  Solide's  voyage, 
prefents  to  us  fb  few  variations,  muft  not,  how- 
ever, be  confidered  as  invariable  :  a  long  feries  of 
obfervations  can  alone  inform  us  how  far,  in  what 
tra6ls  of  fea,  and  in  what  feafon,  we  may  be  per- 
mitted to  confider  it  as  nearly  confiant. 

I  have  comprifed  in  one  Table,  which  termi-^ 
nates  thefe  Notes,  the  refults  of  all  the  calculations 
relative  to  the  adion  of  the  currents,  whofe  effed: 
the  Solide  experienced  in  the  courfe  of  her  Voy- 
age round  the  World  -,  and  I  am  perfuaded  that 
thofe  feamen  who  fliall  fix  their  attention  on  this 
Table,  will  wifh  that  every  navigator  may  aflldu- 
oufly  employ  himfelf  in  fuch  obfervations  as  may, 
on  his  return  from  his  voyage,  furnifh  us  with  one 
fimilar:  hydrographers  who  had  before  them  this 
feries  of  Tables,  would  there  find  the  i^/^  ne- 

cefTary 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE^ 


celTary  for  conftruâiing  charts,  in  which  might  be 
fpccifîed  in  every  trad  of  fea,  the  ordinary  direc- 
tion and  ftrength  of  the  currents  ;  I  fay  ordinary  j 
for  they  may  experience  derangements  in  their 
diredion  and  velocity,  from  the  effed:  of  accidental 
and  unknown  caufes  :   and,  perhaps,  they  even 
experience  periodical  changes  :  but  if  the  changes 
be  regular,  it  will  be  fufficient,  in  order  to  fuc- 
''ceed  one  of  thefe  days  in  afcertaining  the  law  by 
which  they  are  governed,  to  have  a  feries  of  obfer- 
vations  made  in  the  fame  tra6ls  of  fea  in  different 
feafons.    Let  navigators  but  multiply  their  obfer- 
vations,  time  and  men  of  fcience  will  do  the 
reft. 

The  precifion  with  which  the  Solide  made  all 
her  land-falls,  by  regulating  her  courfe  according 
to  the  refult  of  the  obfervations  for  the  longitude, 
(hews  the  degree  of  confidence  that  we  may  grant 
to  the  determinations  of  the  effe5ls  of  the  currents^ 
which  has  been  deduced  from  thefe  very  obferva- 
tions in  the  courfe  of  the  diffçrent  funs.  The  preci- 
fion of  the  land-falls  proves,  ^t^tlie^^amc  time,  what 
fafety  the  methods  whicti>>;9s^>J!e-  employed  for 
determining  the  lo Agi tude  afford"  to  navigators. 
Their  advantage  cannot  fail  to  be  appreciated,  if, 
at  every  period  in  which  the  fbip  touches  at  places 
whofe  geographical  fituation  is  determined,  we 
compare  the  refult  of  the  obfervations  with  that 
which  would  have  been  given  by  the  ordinary 
calculation  of  the  dead  reckonings  and  I  fhall  take 

care 


Dec.  1790.]  MARCliAND's  VOYAGE. 


Gare  to  place  this  comparifon  before  the  eyes  of 
the  reader  at  the  end  of  each  run  :  may  it  make 
our  navigators  fenfible  that  the  dead  reckoning  is  no 
more  than  a  fubfidiary  method,  of  which  it  is  no 
longer  allowable  to  make  ufe  but  as  a  provifional' 
fupplementj  and  merely  when  it  is  not  pofTible  to 
find  in  the  heavens,  by  the  obfervation  of  the  fun, 
moon,  and  (tars,  the  pofition  in  which  the  Ihip 
mull  be  on  the  globe  1 


FIRST  RUN. 

From  the  Strait  of  GIBRALTAR  to  the  CAPE 
DE  VERB  IJlands. 

NOTE  I*. 

On  the  29th  of  December  179O,  at  eight 
o'clock  in  the  evening.  Cape  Spartel  (on  the 
Coaft  of  Afri^^a.^  ^wiien  'the  fhip  had  cleared  the 
Sfraic  of  GriBRA^ife;%g>  bore  direcliy  fouthf,  diftant 

I  i  leagues.    '  ^  .  ' 

*  In  the  Journal  of  the  Route,  on  the  days  fpecified,  will  be 
found  the  elements  of  the  calculations  and  refaits  which  thefe 
N>!E>  prefent. 

+  In  all  the  points  of  the  compafs  mentioned  in  thefe  Note^^ 
allowance  is  made  for  the  variation  of  the  magnetic  needl-e,  and 
•  they  are  reduced  to  the  true  north,  unlefs  it  be  exprefsly  men- 
tioned to  the  contrary. 

VOL,  If.  Y  The 


322  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  [Dcc.  I79O. 

The  obfervatlons  of  Borda,  in  1776,  have  fixed 
the  latitude  of  this  cape  at  35^  47'  20'^  north,  and 
its  longitude  at  8°  14'  weft  from  Paris*. 

Thus,  the  Solide,  in  taking  her  departure  from 
the  bearing  taken  at  eight  o*clock,  failed  from 
the  latitude  of  35^^  "52'  2q'\  and  longitude  of 
8^14'. 

NOTE  îl.  ■ 

On  the  5th  of  January  1791,  at  three  quarter^ 
paft  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  Captain  Mar- 
chand got  fight  of  the  Peak  of  Teneriffe;  and 
it  bore  fouth  6^  30'  eaft,  an  the  diftance  of  thirty- 
five  leagues  efti mated  by  the  eye. 

From  noon  to  three  quarters  pad  one,  the  ihip. 
had  run  B  miles  weft  fouth-weft  6^  30'  fouth. 

Confeqiicntly,  her  latitude  had  diminiftied  fince 
noon,  nearly  4  minutes,  and  her  longitude  had  in- 
creafed  about  8  minutes. 

The  lautude  obferved  at  noon  was  30^  8^:  that 
of  the  Peak  is  28°  17^:  thus  at  this  period,  the 
iliip  was  more  to  the  northward-  than  the  Peak 
byi^si'. 

At  three  quarters  paft  one,  this  difference  had 
diminiflied  4  minutes  ;  confequently,  the  fhip 
was  then  only  1^  47'  to  the  northward  of  the 
Peak. 

*  Thefe  determinations  are  taken  from  a  Manufcript  commu- 
T*icated  by  Borda, 

In 


Dec.  1791.]       marchand's  voyage. 


In  this  fituation,  the  Peak  bore  fouth  30' 
eaft  :  the  fhip  was  therefore  12  miles,  or  about  14 
minutes,  more  to  the  weRward  than  the  Peak. 

The  longitude  of  the  Peak,  reduced  hy  the 
operations  of  îft)RDA*,  to  that  of  the  town  of 
Santa  Cruz,  is  19^:  thus  that  of  the  fhip  was 

19°  14'. 

And  if  it  be  wifhed  to  reduce  it  to  noon,  the 
8  minutes  progrcfs  to  the  weftward,  from  '  that 
time  to  three  quarters  paft  one  muft  be  dedu6led, 
and  it  will  then  be  no  more  than  19°  b\ 

Let  us  at  preftmt  compare  this  lafl-mentioned 
longitude  with  that  of  the. point  of  departure,  on 
the  29:h  of  December,  to  die  northward  of  Cape 

*  The  longitude  of  the  town  of  Santa  Cruz  (at  the  Mole), 
reduced  to  that  of  the  obfei  vatory  at  Cadiz^  is  fixed  at  iS^  36' 
weft  from  Paris,  by  a  mean  between  the  determinations  given 
by  the  time-keepers  of  Ferdinand  Berthond,  on  board  the  Ifis,  in 
1 769  fPifigr/  and  Pletirieu  J  on  board  the  F/ora,  in  1 77  lyfVerdunf 
Bordû  and  Fingre'J  on  board  the  Boi/JJolej  in  1776  ^  Borda  J  :  and 
feveral  obfervations  of  the  eclipfes  of  Jupiter's  Satellites,  made, 
,in  177IJ  by  Father  Femllée  (Mé/n.  de  V Acad,  des  Science 
17-6,  page  135  to  146)  and  in  thefe  latter  times  by  Vafela 
'(Borda' s  MSS.J  and  the  correfpondent  ones  of  which  have 
■been  had  in  the  obfervatories  of  Enrope,  confirm  this  determi- 
nation. Its  latitude  has  been  fixed  by  a  great  number  of  ob- 
fervations at  1^  28'  30"  north. 

The  latitude  "and  longitude  of  the  Peak  of  Tenerife  were  re- 
duced to  that  of  Santa  Cruz  by  the  operations  of  Borday  whofe 
name  is  a  fiifficient  voucher  for  the  exaclnefs  of  the  operations 
and  refults:  he  has  determined  its  latitude  at  28^  iq'  north, 
and  its  longitude  at  19''  weft  from  Paris.  ( MSS.  communicated 
by  B^rdaJ. 

Y  2  Spar.- 


MARCH  AN  î>''s  VOYAGE.  [J**^*  *79*' 


Spartel,  8®  we  lliali  fee  that  the  real  pro- 
grels  towards  the  weft,  from  the  29th  of  Decem- 
ber to  the  5th  of  January  (in  feven  days  want- 
ing 8  hours)  was  10''  52  ;  but,  according  to  the 
dead  reckoning,  her  apparent  progrefs  is  11^32'^ 
thus,  from  the  effcCl:  of  fome  current,  the  fhip 
was  carried  two- thirds  of  a  degree  towards  the 
caft,  or  (reducing  the  parts  of  the  equator  into 
marine  miles,  on  a  mean  parallel  between  the  two 
extreme  parallels)  38  miles  lefs  towards  the  weft 
than  the  reckoning  indicated  5  which  gives  for  the 
mean  elFccl  of  the  current  towards  the  eaft,  54 
miles  in  twenty-four  hours. 

in  comparing  daily  the  latitudes  obferved  with 
thofe  which  were  deduced  from  the  dead  reckon- 
ing, it  will  be  found  that  the  fliip  was  drifted  by 
the  currents,  fomctimes  towards  the  fouth,  fome- 
times  towards  the  north,  and,  allowing  for  the 
quantineii  in  contrary  directions  which  do  away 
each  other,  flie  was  carried  9  minutes,  or  9  miles, 
towards  the  foiith  :  in  combining  them  with  the 
38  miles  eafting,  we  have  for  the  imperceptible 
movement  of  the  ihip,  39  miles  to  the  eaft  13* 
30'  fouth,  and  for  the  mean  drift  per  day  in  that 
direction  5.8  miles  :  but  it  may  be  prcfumed  that 
her  progrefs  towards  tht  eaft  was  conftant,  as  it 
ftîouîd  be,  according  to  the  remark  of  all  the  navi- 
gators who  have  experienced  that  the  waters  of  the 
Ocean  fet  with  a  rather  confiderable  velocity  to- 
"wards  th<f  S.rrait  of  Gibraltar,  through  which 

they" 


Jan.  1791.] 


Marchandas  voyage. 


they  run  into  the  Mediterranean,  .whofe  receipt 
from  the  rivers  which  diicharge  themfelves  into 
it,  does  not  compenfate  for  the  expenditure  that 
is  made  by  evaporation  *. 

I  fhall  here  make  a  remark  acceffory  to  the  ob* 
jeâ:  of  this  Note, 

*  In  a  run  which  I  made  in  1769,  from  Cadiz  to  the  Ifland 
of  Tenerifftf  by  a  direél  courfe  and  with  a  fteady  breeze  from 
nor th-eail  to  eaft-north-eaft,  I  had  an  opportunity  of  afcertaining 
the  conftant  efFeft  of  the  current  which  fets  to  the  eaftward  as 
long  as  a  (hip  fails  in  the  trad  of  fea  fituated  to  the  weftward 
of  the  Strait  of  Gibraltary  and  at  a  little  diftance  from  it.  Clear 
weather  permitted  me,  during  the  four  days  employed  in  this 
run,  to  take  daily  obfervations  for  determining  the  longitude  of 
the  fhip  by  the  help  of  the  time^keepers  of  Ferdinand  Berthoudy 
of  which  I  had  been  ordered  to  make  a  trial,  and  whofe  daily 
rate  had  been  afcertained  at  Cadi^\  and  in  comparing,  every 
day,  the  fhip's  progrefs  towards  the  weft  deduced  from  the  ob- 
fervations, with  that  i.ndicated  by  the  dead  reckoning,  I  had  the 
following  refults, 

On  the  I  ft  day,  the  current  had  fet  to  the  eaftward,  1 on 
the  2nd,  I2|';  on  the  3rd,  9^^;,  on  the  4th,  i'. 

It  is  feen  that,  during  the  firft  three  days,  the  movement  im- 
prelTed  on  the  (hip  to  the  e^iftward,  carried  her  towards  that  fide, 
33y  or  27I  miles,  and  by  a  mçan,  about  8  miles  in  twenty- 
four  hours. 

But  the  aélion  of  the  current  ceafed  to  be  felt  on  the  4th 
day  when  the  fliip  had  reached  the  parallel  of  3 1*^:  (See  the 
Voyage  de  VlfiSy  en  I'^Gi  et  i']6g,  à  différentes  parties  du  Monde 
pour  éprQwver  les  Horloges  marines^  <^c<,  Paris  hnprim,  R^'^- 
Vol.  I.  page  279.) 

The  quantities  which  the  ftiip  had  been  carried,  in  the  fame 
interval,  towards  the  fouth  or  towards  the  north,  had  nearly 
counterbalanced  each  other  :  8  J-'  rq  the  fouthv/ard,  6  J-' to  the 
portjiward.    (See  Ih'J.  Vq-1.  11.  pagp  2ro,) 


Y  3 


Tiie 


326  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  U^^-^jg^' 

The  latitude  obfervcd,  at  noon,  was  30*^  8^: 
from  noon  to  three  quarters  pad  one,  the  period 
at  which  a  bearing  was  taken  of  the  Peak,  the 
lliip's  progrefs  had  been  4  minutes  towards  the 
fouth  i  thus,  at  three  quarters  pad  one,  the  lati- 
tude was  no  more  than  30°  4'  :  and  it  was  more 
northerly  than  the  Peak,  by  1°  47'  or  351  leagues. 
Captain  Marchand  had  eftimated  by  the  eye  that 
the  diftance  might  be  35  leagues:  and  the  obfer- 
vation  of  latitude  proves  that  the  real  diflance  dif- 
fered very  little  from  this  eftimation  :  it  proves 
too,  and  this  is  what  I  v/ifh  to  conclude  from  it, 
that  in  coming  from  the  northward,  as  from  every 
other  part  of  the  horizon,  the  Peak  of  Tene- 
RiFFE  may  be  diftinguifhed  at  the  diflance  of  35 
or  36  leagues,  even  when  the  weather  is  not  per- 
fedly  clear:  for  we  fee,  in  the  Journal  of  the 
Route,  that,  from  noon  of  the  5th  to  noon  on 
the  6th,  the  wind  was  to  the  northward,  variable, 
and  faint  -,  and  the  weather  bazy.  Thus,  when  the 
bearing  of  the  Peak  was  taken  at  three  quarters 
pad  one  on  this  latter  day,  the  weather  could  not 
be  perfe6i:ly  clear  -,  but  it  had  been  fufficiently  fo 
jjibr  taking  ,thc  meridian  altitude  of  the  fun,  and  it 
was  fufficiently  fo  for  the  Peak  to  be  perceived  at 
the  diftancc  of  thirty- five  leagues,  becaufe  its 
fummit  was  not  enveloped  in  clouds,  but  towered 
above  them.  In  calculating  from  its  elevation 
above  the  level  of  the  fea,  which  the  operations 
of  BoRDA,  made  in  1776,  in  his  cxcurfion  to  the 

lofcieft 


Jan.  1791.]        MARCH  AN  d's  voyage. 


loftieft  point  of  the  mountain,  have  fixed  at  1905 
toifes  *,  we  find  that  the  diftance  at  which  the 
Peak  is  feen  geometricaliy  in  a  line  with  the  hori- 
zon, regard  being  had  to  terreilrial  refraftion,  is 
liSf  minutes  of  a  degree,  or  about  43  marine 
leagues  :  and  if  we  fuppofe  the  eye  raifed  from  20 
to  25  feet  above  the  level  of  the  fea,  this  diftance 
may  be  increafed  2  or  3  leagues.  But  the  upper 
part  of  the  mountain,  or  the  FiroNy  forms  a 
truncated  cone  on  an  elevation  of  500  feet  5  and 
the  eliptical  mouth  of  the  crater  which  terminates 
it,  and  into  which  Borda  defcended,  is  not  more 
than  from  35  to  40  toifes  in  length  in  its  great 
diameter,  which  inclines  towards  the  fouth-fouth- 
caft,  and  from  25  to  30  only  in  its  fmali  diameter: 
it  may  therefore  be  prefumed  thac  the  mountain  of 
the  Peak  is  not  eafily  diftinguifhed  in  the  horizon^ 
except  when  the  bafe  of  the  P/ro.v  begins  to  make 
its  appearance  there  5  thereforç  it  may  be  admitted 

*  Two  barometers  were  placed  on  the  higheft 'edge  of  the 
crater  ;  the  one  rofe  to  1 8  inches,  the  other  to  1 8  lines, 
Reaumur* s  ^htxmomtttr  to  8f  dçgrees  above  the  freezing  point. 
On  comparing  thefe  quantities  to  thofe  which  the  barometers  of 
comparifon  had  rifen,  at  the  fame  hour,  at  the  fea-fide,  and  on 
applying,  for  the  corredions  to  be  made,  the  rule  of  M,  de  Luc^ 
we  find  the  height  of  the  peaîç  abovç  the  level  of  the  ocean,  to 
be  1929  toifes.  The  trigonometrical  meafiUe,  taken  wit|i  2\\ 
the  precautions  that  could  infure  its  exa(5lrTefs,  gave  1905  toifes  ; 
and  it  is  feen  that  the  height  indicated  by  the  barometer  differs, 
érom  the  true  only  by  24  toifes.  (Thefe  meafwyes  arç  take^ 
ffçm  à  Manufcript  communicated  by  ^Qrd&\ 

Y  4  îhaç 


328  marciiand's  voyaçe.       [J«n-  1791» 

tjiat  the  greateft  diftancc  at  which  the  Peak  of 
Teneriffe  car?  be  perceived  from  a  fliip's  deck, 
is  42  or  43  leagues  :  I  fay  nothing  of  the  little  dif- 
ferences which  drpend  orj  the  variation  of  terref- 
trial  refraôiops,  which  varying  according  to  the 
temperature  and  the  ftate  of  the  atmofphere, 
change  thp  apparent  height  pf  mountains. 

According  to  thefe  meafures  which  no  one  wiîl 
conteft,  we  may  judge  how  greatly  yoyûgers  have 
exaggerated,  who  have  told  us  that  they  had  per- 
ceived the  Peak  of  Teneriffe  fipcty  and  a  hundred 
leagues  pfF  at  fea  *. 

NOTE  III. 

In  comparing  the  longitude  g}vep  by  two  fets  of 
diftances  of  the  fun  and  moon,  obferycd  on  the 
^th,  at  three  quarters  paft  tlirec  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  and  reduced  to  noon  of  that  day,  with 
that  which  had  been  deducjcd,  on  the  5th,  from 
the  bearing  of  the  Peak  of  T^neiuffe^  it  is 
feen  that,  in  interval  of  four  days,  the  progrefs 
towards  the  wed^  had  been  0^  40'.  In  reducing^ 
in  like  naanner,  to  the  bearing  of  the  Peak  the 
longitude  given  by  the  dead  reckoning  on  the  9t(i 
at  noon,"  it  will  be  found  that  the  progrefs  indica- 
ted by  the  reckoning,  from  the  5th  to  the  9th  of 
%hc  mopth,  was  3°  34':  thqs,  the  (liip  had  again 

♦  See  thelltjoirr  générale  de  Voyages  \>y  Vrévsfiy  VoL  II.' 
ya^e  259,  410  edition. 

bçen 


•Jan.  1791-]  MARCHAND's  VOYAGEi 


329 


been  carried  towards  the  eaft  54  minutes,  or  about 
49  miles,  on  the  mean  parallel  between  the  two 
extremes. 

The  obfervations  of  latitude  (hewed  that,  in  the 
fame  interval,  fhe  had  been  carried  12  minutes, 
or  12  miles,  to  the  fouthward,  beyond  the  fum  of 
the  progrefs  by  account. 

It  thence  refults  that  the  currents  had  fet  her 
50^  miles  to  the  eaft  13^  45'  fouth,  at  a  mean  rate 
of  I  ij  in  twenty-four  hours. 

It  is  very  ufual,  in  the  feas  which  the  Solide 
had  crofled,  for  ihips  to  be  carried  to  the  eaftward 
by  the  movement  of  the  waters  :  and,  mod  com- 
monly, they  are  at  the  fame  time  carried  to  the 
ibuthward, 

NOTE  IV. 

On  the  14th,  at  noon,  the  fouth  point  of  Mayo, 
OIK  of  the  Cape  de  VerD  Iflands,  bore  north, 
diftant  one  league. 

By  a  mean  between  the  refults  of  the  obferva- 
tions which  were  made  on  board  the  Isis,  in  1769, 
^nd  on  board  the  Flore,  in  177 i,  the  latitude  of 
this  point  is  15®  4'  30''  north,  and  its  longitude 
as'' 28' 30'' weft*. 

Lat.  north.  Long,  weft, 

*  According  to  the  obfervations  made 

on  board  the  IJts ..............  15°    3'. .  25°  27' 

According  to  thofe  made  on  board 

the  Fieu  15     6  . .  25  3Q 

Mean    15     4I    25  28| 

The 


g3<^  marchand's  VOYAGE.       [Jan.  1791*  Ija 

The  fhip*s  place  whence  the  bearings  were  taken  it 
at  noon  was  on  the  very  meridian  of  this  point,  and  ci 
3  minutes  more  foutherly  ^  thus,  at  that  period,  the  tc 
latitude  of  the  fhip  fliould  be  15°  30'^,  and  that  n 
which  was  obfcrved  was  conformable  to  it  :  her  c 
longitude  was  that  of  the  fouth  point  of  Mayo,  w 
25^28^30'^ 

On  comparing  this  longitude  with  that  which 
had  been  obferved  on  the  9th  at  noon,  we  find 
that,  in  the  interval  of  five  days,  the  fhip^s  pro-»  i 
grefs  towards  the  weft  was  3°  ^2^  30^^  According 
to  the  dead  reckoning,  it  ought  to  be  only  3^  9^: 
thus  the  fhip  was  carried  to  the  weft  ward  33§  j 
minutes,  or  30J  miles  (reducing  the  parts  of  the 
equatorinto  marine  miles  by  a  mean  parallel.) 

The  obfervations  of  latitude  ftiewed  that,  in  the 
fame  fpace  of  time,  ftie  was  drifted  to  the  fouth- 
ward,  18  minutes,  or  18  miles:  thus,  through  the  ' 
cfîe6l  of  the  current,  the  ftiip  was  carried  35  J  miles 
to  the  weft  30^  45"  fouth,  at  a  mean  rate  of  7.1 
miles  in  twenty-four  hours. 

The  longitude  by  account,  fuch  as  it  was  given 
by  the  dead  reckoning  deduced  from  the  longitude 
of  the  point  of  departure,  on  the  29th  of  Decern*  ] 
ber  within  fight  of  Cape  Spartel,  was  26°  29': 
and  in  comparing  it  to  the  true  longitude,  25°  28' 
30",  we  find  that  the  error  of  the  reckoning,  at 
the  expiration  of  fixteeri  days,  was,  ahead  of  the  1 
fhip,  I  degree,  which,  on  the  parallel  of  the  point  | 
arrived  at,  is  equal  to  58  miles.    But  it  has  been  | 

4  fcç^i 


Jan.  1791.]         MARCH  AN  IJ'S  VOYAGE.  334 

feen  that  a  compenfation  haà  taken  place  in  the 
errors  :  in  the  interval  from  the  29th  of  December 
to  the  9th  of  January,  the  fum  of  the  errors  in  the 
reckoning,  ahead  of  the  fhip,  had  been  87  miles 
cr  1°  34'i  and  from  the  9th  to  the  14th,  the  error 
was  30.5  miles  or  0°  34'  ûjiern. 


SECOND  RUN. 

From  the  CJPE  DE  VERB  IJlands  to  within 
ftght  of  STATEN  LAND. 

NOTE  V. 

i.  The  longitude  of  La  Praya,  in  the  Ifland  of 
St.  Jago^  was  determined  by  the  obfervations 
inade  with  the  help  of  the  time-pieces  of  Fer-. 
DiNAND  Berthoud,  in  1769  on  board  .the  Isis  ^ 
in  1771,  on  board  the  Flore,  and  reduced  to  the 
longitude  of  Cadiz*:  it  is  25°  2\'  weft  from 

P^RIS. 

It  is  from  this  point  that  the  Spmde  failed> 
4)n  the  1 8th  of  January,  in  order  to  get  under  the 

Lat.  North*   Long.  Weft« 
^La?ra  a  \  °"  board  the  7/?^  14°  52'  33'. .  25°  50'  00" 

■  1  Obferv.  onboard  thei^/or<?  14  43  40  . .  25  51  30 

Mean  14  53  06.5    25  50  45 


yneridian^ 


33^  MARCHAND  s  VOYAGE.  [Jan.  l/.)!. 

meridian  of  Staten  Land,  which  Captain  Mar- 
chand intended  to  make  before  he  entered  into 
the  Great  Ocean,  becaufe  it  was  poffible,  as 
really  happened,  that  the  contrariety  of  the  winds 
might  not  permit  him  to  get  fight  of  Gape 
Horn. 

No  obfervation  of  longitude  could  be  taken  till 
the  6th  of  February  :  but  the  refults  of  the  obfer- 
vations  of  latitude  compared  to  thofe  of  the  reck- 
oning fhewed  that,  in  the  interval  from  the  28th 
to  the  31ft  of  January,  the  fhip  was  carried  to  the 
northward  50  minutes  beyond  the  run  by  account, 
that  is,  i6|  miles  in  twenty- four  hours. 

This  great  effed  of  a  current' coming  from  the 
fouthward  took  plàce  between  the  parallel  of  3® 
36'  and  that  of  2°  26'  north,  and  between  20® 
35'  and  21°  29'  weft  longitude.  From  the  time  of 
the  departure  being  taken  from  La  Praya  to  this 
period,  very  inconfiderable  differences  only  had 
been  remarked  between  the  latitudes  by  account 
and  the  latitudes  by  obfervation  :  during  the  firft 
three  days,  there  had  been  no  difference  :  from 
the  2ift  to  the  22nd,  the  fliip  appeared  to  have 
been  carried  by  the  movement  of  the  waters,  4 
minutes  to  the  fouthward  ^  but  on  the  following 
days,  fhe  appeared  to  be  fet  to  the  northward: 
from  the  2id  to  the  23d,  3  minutes  3  from  the  23d 
to  the  24th,  4  minutes,  and  from  the  24th  to  the 
î^gth^  I  minute  only. 

If 


Jan.  1791-]         marciîand's  voyage.  333 

If  the  reader  will  cad  his  eye  on  the  chart  of 
the  Atlantic  Ocean,  he  will  fee  that,  in  the 
interval  from  the  28th  to  the  3ift  of  January, 
during  which  the  fliip  experienced  the  effcâ:  of  a 
(Irong  foucherly  current,  fhe  was  failing  in  the 
.part  of  that  ocean  where  the  waters  are  confined 
between  the  two  continents.    It  is  well  known 
that,  on  the  coaft  of  Brazil  and  Guiana,  from 
Cape  St.  Roque  to  the  Antilles,  the  waters 
have  a  confiant  movement  from  the  fouth  to  the 
north,  declining  more  or  lefs  towards  the  weft,  ac* 
cording  to  the  direction  of  the  land. 

As  no  obfervations  were  made  for  the  longitude 
fince  the  time  of  the  departure  being  taken  from 
La  Pray  a,  it  cannot  be  known  whether  the  cur- 
rent which  fet  to  the  northward,  fet  at  the  fame 
tim.e  to  the  eaftward  or  weftwardj  it  might  be 
prefumed  that  its  direction  was  rather  tov/ards  this 
^  latter  fide^   firft,  becaufe  it  is  well  known  that 
the  waters,  between  the  tropics,  have  a  general 
tendency  from  eaft  to  weft,  and  in  the  fécond 
place,  becaufe  the  obfervations  which  were  made 
on  the  6th  of  February  following,  indicated  that, 
in  the  interval  from  the  1 8th  of  January  to  this 
latter  day,  the  ftiip's  progrefs  towards  the  weft 
'  had  been  greater  by  i°  3^  or  about  21  leagues, 
than   that  which  was  deduced   from   the  dead 
reckoning. 


NOTE 


334 


MARCMANi5's  VOYAGE. 


[Feb.  1791. 


NOTE  VL 

The  mean  refult  of  four  fets  of  diflances  of  the 
fun  and  moon,  obfervcd  on  the  6th  of  February, 
at  forty-feven  minutes  pad  four  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  and  reduced  to  noon,  gave  for  the  lon- 
gitude of  the  fhip  at  that  moment,  27^  58^  and, 
on  comparing  it  to  that  of  La  Praya  25^  51'', 
it  was  found  that,  from  the  i3th  of  January  to  the 
6th  of  February,  in  nineteen  days,  the  fliip's  pro- 
grefs  towards  the  weft  had  been  2^  27; 

According  to  the  dead  reckoning,  it  had  been 
only  i"^  V;  thus  the  fhip  had  been  carried  to  the 
weilward,  beyond  the  progrefs  by  account,  i*^  f, 
or  62  miles. 

On  comparing  the  flim  of  the  progrefs  in  lati- 
tude deduced  from  obfervation,  vvi(h  that  of  the 
progrefs  by  account,  ic  will  be  found  thaç  from  the 
iSth  of  January  to  the  5th  of  February,  the  fhip 
had  been  carried  to  the  northward,  i"^  34',  which 
are  reduced  to  jO^  becaufe,  from  the  21ft  to 
the  2 2d  ilie  had  been  carried  4  minutes  ta  the 
fouthward  j  and  as  from  the  5  th  to  the  6th  of  Fe- 
bruary, file  had  been  alfo  fct  to  the  fouthward,  9 
minutes,  her  relative  movement  towards  the  north, 
in  the  interval  from  the  i8th  of  January  to  the  6i:h 
of  February,  is  reduced  to  1°  21'  or  81  miles. 

Thus,  after  having  combined  the  progrefs  in 
latitude  with  that  w^hich  was  made  in  longitude,  it 
is  feen  that  the  fhip  was  carried  to  the  north  37^ 

well, 


Feb.  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  335 

j  weft,  103  miles  in  nineteen  days  ;  which  gives  a 
I  mean  progrefs  of  5.4  miles  in  twenty-four  hours 
I  in  that  diredionw 

NOTE  VII. 

Frefh  obfervations  for  the  longitude  made  on 
the  7th,  8thj  and  9th  j  namely  -,  on  the  firft  day, 
two  fets  of  diftances  of  the  fun  and  moon  y  on  the 
fécond,  two  others  -,  on  the  third,  two  more,  gave 
for  each  of  the  days,  a  refult  which  was  reduced 
to  their  refpe6i:ive  noon. 

On  comparing  the  progrefs  towards  the  weft  in 
twenty-four  hours,  deduced  from  the  obfervations, 
with  that  indicated  by  the  dead  reckoning,  the  fol- 
lowing differences  were  found  : 

From  the  6th  to  the  7th,  the  progrefs  by  obfer* 
vation  was  greater  than  that  by  account,  by  8 
minutes; 

.  From  the  7th  to  the  8th,  îefs  by  i  minute  5 
From  the  8th  to  the  9th,  greater  by  23  minutes  5 
And  in  comprifing  the  three  days,  from  the  6th 
to  the  9th,  the  progrefs  towards  the  weft  was 
greater,  according  to  the  obfervation  thaa  accord- 
ing to  the  dead  reckoning,  by  30  minutes,  or  29I 
miles* 

The  progrefs  towards  the  fouth,  from  the  6th  to 
the  9th,  was,  daily,  greater  by  obfervation  than  by 
account,  by  3  minutes,  and  9  minutes,  or  nine 
miles,  for  the  three  days, 

.Thus, 


marchand's  voyage.        [Feb.  i/gi. 


Thus,  in  that  interval,  the  (hip  was  carried 
31  miles  to  the  weft  28°  fouth  j  which  gives  a 
mean  movement  of  lOj  miles  in  twenty-four  hours 
in  this  diredion. 

If,  on  the  9th  the  abfolute  longitude  by  obfer- 
vation,  31°  8',  be  compared  with  the  longitude 
deduced  from  the  dead  reckoning,  which  is  29° 
35''  in  reducing  the  calculations  to  the  longitude 
of  La  Praya,  it  is  feen  that  after  twenty-twb/ 
days'  navigation,  the  accumulated  errors  in  the 
reckoning  produced  one  of  f  33',  or  upwards  of 
thirty  leagues,  qfiern  of  the  fhip's  true  fituation. 

NOTE  VHI. 

On  the  I  2th,  at  nineteen  minutes  after  four  in 
the  afternoon,  four  diftances  were  taken  of  the  fun 
and  moon,  and,  at  night,  2l  fet  from  the  moon  to 
P  o(  Pollux.  The  mean  between  the  five  refults, 
reduced  to  noon,  gives  for  the  longitude  of  the 
fliip  at  that  moment,  33^  41'^  and  in  deducling 
the  latter  from  that  of  the  9th  at  noon,  there  remain 
2®  33'  for  the  f]iip*s  progrefs  towards  the  weft,  in 
the  interval  of  the  three  days. 

This  progrefs,  according  to  the  dead  reckoning 
was  only  2°  1 1';  thus,  the  fliip  was  carried  to  the 
weftward  23  minutes,  or  21.4  miles. 

In  the  fame  interval,  fhe  had  been  carried  to 
the  fouthward  24.  minutes,  ôr  24  miles. 

On, 


Ffeb.  1791.]        marchand's  voyage. 


337 


On  combining  the  movement,  we  find  32.2  miles 
to  the  weft  48-^Touth  ;  and  for  the  mean  drift  in 
twenty-four  hours>  lof  miles. 

At  the  period  of  the  12th,  the  dead  reckoning 
was  in  error  refpedling  the  longitude,  i®  55',  or 
'about  37  leagues  aft  em, 

NOTE  IX. 

The  mean  refult  of  two  fets  of  diftances  obferved 
from  the  moon  to  Regulusy  and  from  the  moon  to 
Aldeoaran^  on  the  15  th,  at  half  paft  eight  o'clock  in 
the  evening,  and  reduced  to  noon  of  that  day, 
Ihewed  that,  fince  the  12th,  the  fliip's  progrefs 
towards  the  weft  had  been  2^  15',  but  it  was  only 
1°  42",  according  to  the  dead  reckoning  :  thus,  the 
Ihip  had  been  carried  to  the  weftward  33  minutes, 
or  31.5  miles. 

In  the  fame  interval,  according  to  the  obfer- 
vations  of  latitude,  ftie  had  been  carried  29  mi- 
nutes, or  29  miles,  to  the  fouthward,  beyond  her 
progrefs  by  account  towards  that  fide. 

On  combining  thefe  two  movements,  we  find 
that  the  compound  movement  was  42.9  miles  to 
the  weft,  42°  30' fouth,  and  the  mean  drift,  143 
miles  in  twenty-four  hours. 

NOTE  X. 
Frefh  obfervations  made  on  the  i6th,  at  nine 
o'clock  in  the  evening  (two  fets  of  diftances  from 
VOL.  ir.  z  the 


33» 


marchand's  voyage.       [Feb.  1791. 


the  moon  to  Aldeharan^  and  one  to  Regulus)^  gave 
for  the  longitude  reduced  to  noon,  37°  6  j  and 
confequently,  i"^  10',  for  the  progrefs  towards  the 
weft,  from  the  15th  to  the  i6th. 

According  to  the  dead  reckoning,  this  progrefs 
was  only  44  minutes  :  thus,  in  twenty-four  hours, 
the  fhip  was  carried  to  the  weftward,  26  minutes, 
or  24.5  miles. 

According  to  the  obfervation  of  latitude,  fhe 
was  at  the  fame  time  carried  to  the  fouthward  10 
minutes,  or  10  miles.  ^ 

The  compound  movement  was  therefore  26.5 
iliiles  to  the  weft,  22^30'  fouth. 

It  is  fceri  that,  in  thefe  twenty-four  hours,  the 
movement  towards  the  weft  differs  greatly,  in  re- 
gard to  the  movement  towards  the  fouth,  from 
the  agreement  that  had  been  remarked  during  the 
preceding  periods.  This  difference  may  be  owing 
to  the  variation  which  the  current  had  experienced 
in  its  direction  and  velocity  i  but  it  is  more  pro- 
bable that  it  is  occafioned  by  the  error  in  the  ob- 
fervations  in  one  of  the  two  days,  or  perhaps  an 
error  in  both:  it  is  well  known  that  t^t  Lunar 
Method  cannot  afTign  with  fufficient  precifion  fmall- 
diiferences  in  longitude  for  the  refults  that  are 
deduced  from  them  to  be,  in  that  cafe,  confidered 
as  fixed  terms  of  comparifon*. 

NOTE 

*  I  obferve  that  the  cffeft  of  the  current  towards  the  fouth, 
was,  from  the  12th  to  the  15th,  ç  minutes;  from  the  .T3th  to 

the 


Feb,  179 1-3       marcmand's  voyage. 


339 


NOTE  XL 

On  the  25th,  fix  fets  of  diftances  of  the  fun  and 
moon,  obferved  at  feven  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
gave  for  the  longitude  at  noon,  47°  56":  by  thofe 
of  the  i6th,  at  noon,  it  had  been  37°  6":  thus 
the  progrefs  towards  the  weft,  according  to  the 
obfervations,  had,  in  nine  days,  been  lo"^  50^ 

According  to  the  dead  reckoning,  it  was  only 
9®.  5'  ;  and  thence  it  was  concluded  that,  in  the 
interval,  the  fhip  had  been  carried  to  the  weft- 
ward  I*  45',  or  94|  miles,  beyond  the  apparent 
run. 

The  ftiip's  movement  towards  the  fouth,  beyond 
the  progrefs  indicated  by  the  dead  reckoning,  had 
been  confiderable  during  this  period  ;  according  to 
the  daily  obfervations  of  latitude,  it  had  amounted 


the  14th,  10';  from  the  14th  to  the  15th,  14';  from  the  15th 
to  the  1 6th,  lo^  its  efFecl  in  the  diredion  of  the  latitude  there- 
fi^re  experienced  no  great  variations,  efpecially  during  thefe  laft- 
mentioned  days  ;  and  it  might  be  fuppofed  that  the  efFeâ:  towards 
the  weft  did  not  proportionably  undergo  more  confiderable  ones. 
We  would  then  fay  :  if,  from  the  12th  to  the  15th,  with  a  total 
effeél  towards  the  fouth  of  29',  the  Ihip  experienced  an  efred 
towards  the  weft  of  33';  with  an  efîeél  of  10'  towards  the  fouth, 
what  muft  have  been  the  effeft  towards  the  weft  ?  We  ftiould  find 
that  the  laft  term  of  this  proportion  is  minutes,  which  muft 
be  added  to  44  minutes,  the  (hip's  progrefs  towards  the  weft^ 
according  to  the  dead  reckoning,  from  the  15  th  to  the  i6th:  we 
fhall  have  54}  minutes  for  the  prefumed  progrefs,  fmaller  by  14 
or  1 5  minutes  than  that  indicated  by  the  obfervations* 

Z  2  to 


34Q  marchand's  VOYAGE.        [Feb.  i/gi. 

to  20  minutes,  from  the  17th  to  the  i8th;  to  14 
minutes,  from  the  2 2d  to  the  23d  j  to  20  minutes, 
from  the  23d  to  the  25th.  The  fum  of  thefe 
differences,  relatively  to  the  dead  reckoning,  was 
1^  Yi  or  67  miles,  which  Ihe  had  been  carried  to 
the  fouthward. 

The  combination  of  thefe  movements  for  which 
the  dead  reckoning  had  not  been  able  to  account, 
towards  the  fouth  and  towards  the  weft,  gives 
II 5 f  miles  to  the  weft  36°  fouth  :  and  the  fhip  had 
been  carried  in  that  direélion  at  the  mean  rate  of 
12.8  miles  in  the  twenty-four  hours. 

Obfervations  for  the  longitude,  made  on  the 
26th  (fix  fets  of  diftances  of  the  fun  and  moon,  at 
eight  o'clock  in  the  morning),  announced  that,  in 
the  interval  from  the  25th  to  the  26th,  the  calcu- 
lation of  the  dead  reckoning  agreed  with  the  refult 
of  the  obfervations. 

But  the  obfervation  of  latitude  ftiewed  that,  in 
the.  fame  interval,  the  fhip  had  been  carried  22 
minutes  to  the  fouthward. 

At  the  period  of  the  26th,  the  longitude  by 
account,  deduced  from  that  of  La  Pray  a,  at  the 
expiration  of  thirty-nine  days,  was  afiern  of  that 
given  by  the  obfervations,  4^39,  or  upwards  of 
78  leagues  on  the  parallel  of  the  point  arrived 
at. 

It  may  have  been  remarked  that,  from  the  6th 
of  February,  the  period  at  which  the  fhip,  having 
arrived  at  5°  30'  fouth  of  the  line,  had  pafled  be- 
yond 


Feb.  1791-]  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  34I 

yond  the  parallel  of  Cape  St.  Roque,  whence  the 
eaftern  coaft  of  South-America  begins  to  trend 
towards  the  fouth-weft,  and  extends  in  that  direc- 
tion as  far  as  the  Strait  of  Magellan,  Ihe  was 
conftantly  carried  to  the  fouth-weft,  declining  fome- 
times  towards  the  weft,  fometimes  towards  the 
fouth^  and  with  degrees  of  velocity  which  kept 
increafing,  in  proportion  as  fhe  increafed  her 
latitude. 

If  it  be  wiflied  to  afcertain  what  was,  in  the 
interval  of  the  laft  twenty  days,  from  the  6th  to 
the  26th  of  February,  the  total  effedl  of  the  fetting 
of  the  currents  on  the  courfe  and  rate  of  failing 
of  the  fliip,  we  may  caft  up  the  fum  of  the  im- 
perceptible progrefs  towards  the  weft,  and  of  that 
towards  the  fouth,  which  the  refult  of  the  obfer- 
vations  indicated  at  different  periods  ;  it  will  be 
feen  that  the  ftiip  was  driven  out  of  her  apparent 
courfe,  161  miles  (2°  41')  towards  the  fouth; 
and  201.3  lï^iles  (3^  47')  towards  the  weft  ;  and 
on  combining  thefe  two  movements,  it  will  be 
found  that  the  unperceived  mean  movement  of 
which  thefe  were  no  more  than  the  decompofition, 
was  266.6  miles  to  the  fouth-weft  7°  45'  weft: 
which  implies  a  mean  drift,  relatively  to  the 
duration  of  the  period,  of  i3|.  miles,  in  twenty^ 
four  hours  in  that  mean  diredion. 


NOTE 


marchand's  voyage.        [Feb.  1791- 


NOTE  XTL 

The  mean  refult  of  four  fets  of  diftances  of  the 
fun  and  moon,  obferved  on  the  8th  of  March,  at 
fifty-two  minutes  pad  three  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon, and  reduced  to  noon  of  that  day,  gave  for 
the  longitude  of  the  fhip,  48*  é';  and  on  comparing 
it  with  that  which  had  been  obtained  on  the  26th 
of  February  by  fix  fets  of  fimilar  obfervations,  and 
which  was  48*  23'  30^',  it  will  be  found  that,  in 
the  interval  of  ten  days,  the  ftiip  had  been  driven 
back  to  the  eaftwardy  17!  minutes,  or  14!  miles. 

But,  on  decompofing  the  different  courfes  which 
the  fhip  had  followed  in  this  fame  fpace  of  time^ 
and  on  calculating  according  to  the  apparent  de- 
grees of  velocity  with  which  fhe  had  run  them, 
it  will  be  feen  that  fhe  ought  to  have  advanced 
173  miles,  or  3*  29^  to  the  weflward  ;  and  this  is 
the  difference  which  is  to  be  found  between  the 
longitude  by  account  of  the  26th  of  February, 
43°  44',  and  that  of  the  8  th  of  March,  47''  13'. 

The  fum  of  the  apparent  progrefs  towards  the 
wefl  and  of  the  real  progrefs  towards  the  eafl 
(3°  40'  30'',  or  187.5  lï^iles)  is  the  difference 
between  the  refult  of  the  obfervations  made  .on 
the  two  extreme  days  of  the  period,  and  that  of 
the  calculations  of  the  dead  reckoning  in  the  in- 
terval of  the  ten  days. 

The  fhip's  progrefs  in  latitude  towards  the  fouth 
was,  in  the  fame  interval,  according  to  the  obfer- 
vations. 


Feb.  1791.]       marchand's  voyage* 


343 


vations,  4®  18',  or  258  miles,  and  that  which  the 
dead  reckoning  would  have  given,  would,  by  the 
accumulation  of  its  daily  errors,  have  been  greater 
than  the  obferved  progrefs,  by  20',  or  80  miles  : 
but  it  was  corre6bed  by  every  obfervation  of  lati- 
tude ;  and  the  frue  latitude  was  daily  employed 
as  an  element  in  the  calculations  of  the  dead  reck- 
oning. 

If,  with  the  real  progrefs  towards  the  fouth,  258 
miles,  and  the  eftimated  or  apparent  progrefs  to- 
wards the  weft,  173  miles,  if  it  be  wifhed  to  afcer- 
tain  what  were  the  apparent  courfe  and  rate  of 
failing  of  the  Ihip,  it  will  be  found  that  fhe  ap- 
peared to  run  311  miles  to  the  fouth  33°  45'  weft  ; 
while  in  reality,  with  the  fame  progrefs  of  258 
miles  to  the  fouthward,  and  the  progrefs  by  ob- 
fervation of  14I  miles  to  the  eaftward,  ihe  advanced 
258^  miles  to  the  fouth  3^  1 5'  eaft. 

Thus,  the  effe6l  of  the  currents,  in  ten  days, 
occafioned  an  error  of  37^  on  the  angle  of  the 
courfe. 

It  occafioned  another  error  of  187!  miles  (or 
3*46'  30^0  in  the  fhip*s  progrefs  in  longitude. 
This  efFed -of  the  currents  carried  the  fhip  only 
171',  or  14I:  miles  to  the  eaftward  of  the  pofition 
flie  was  in  on  the  firft  day  of  th€  period  ;  becaufe 
the  action  of  the  wind  which  drove  her  to  the 
weftward,  nearly  balanced  that  of  the  body  of  the 
waters  which  carried  her  to  the  eaftward  ;  and  the 
14I  miles  exprefs  the  excefs  of  the  ftrength  of  the 

z  4  current 


I 

344  MARCH and's  voyage.         [Feb.  1791. 


current  beyond  that  of  the  wind,  relatively  to  the 
progrefs  in  longitude  ;  but  its  abjb^ute  ftrength, 
with  refped  to  this  fame  progrefs,  or  the  error  of 
the  dead  reckoning,  is  exprefîçd  by  the  whole  of 
the  187  miles  of  difference  between  the  fum  of  the 
progrefs  by  account  each  day  of  the  period,  and 
the  real  progrefs  deduced  from  the  obfervations 
made  on  the  firft  and  laft  day. 

It  has  been  feen  that,  while  the  fhip  was  carried 
to  the  eaftward,  fhe  was  alfo  carried  to  the  north-^ 
ward,  and  that  the  fum  of  the  daily  errors  of  the 
dead  reckoning  with  refpedl  to  the  progrefs  in 
latitude,  gives  a  total  error  of  1°  20',  or  So  miles 
in  excefs,  towards  the  fouth.  If  we  combine  thç 
80  miles  which  the  fhip  was  carried  to  the  north- 
ward, with  the  1 875  miles  which  fhe  was  carried 
to  the  eaftward,  it  will  be  found  that,  by  an  unper- 
ceived  effed  which  muft  have  efcaped  the  calcu- 
lations of  the  dead  reckoning,  the  fetting  of  thç 
currents  had  caufed  the  fhip  to  make,  in  the  in- 
terval of  ten  days,  204  miles  in  the  direélion  of 
eaft  if  north.  In  dividing  the  number  of  miles 
by  that  of  the  days  of  the  period,  we  lhall  have 
for  the  mean  degree  of  velocity  which  the  current 
imprelTed  on  the  fhip  in  twenty-four  hour$,  2o'.4, 
or  upwards  of  61  leagues. 

Thus,  the  currents  which,  from  the  6th  of  Fe- 
bruary, when  the  fhip  had  reached  the  latitude  of 
5°  40'  fouth,  and  the  longitude  of  28®  wcfl,  till 
the  26th  of  the  fame  month,  when  flie  had  arrived 

at 


March  1791.]      marchand's  voyage. 


345 


at  the  latitude  of  32°  30^  and  longitude  of  48®  20/, 
had  conftantly  fet  to  the  fouthward  and  weftward, 
from  the  latter  day,  fet,  with  confiderable  ftrengthj 
to  the  northward  and  eaftward. 
V-  Although,  in  the  courfe  of  this  period,  the 
Solide  had  fometimes  contrary  and  rather  ftrong 
winds,  at  other  times  calms,  and  almoft  always 
a  fwell  which  came  from  the  weft  and  fouth-weft  ; 
yet  it  is  not  folely  to  the  difficulty  of  corredly 
cftimating  the  courfe.  and  rate  of  failing  of  the 
(hip  in  fimilar  circumftances,  that  we  may  attribute 
the  whole  amount  of  the  partial  errors  refpedling 
the  latitude,  which  the  daily  obfervations  caufed  to 
be  difcovered,  or  the  total  error  refpeding  the 
fliip's  progrcfs  in  longitude,  which  the  obferva- 
tions of  the  laft  day  of  this  period  brought  to  light. 
We  muft  therefore  feek  another  cauie  for  thefe 
errors  ;  and  we  find  it  if  we  caft  our  eyes  on  the 
South  Atlantic  Ocean,  and  there  fet  off  the 
fliip's  place  on  the  firft  and  laft  day  of  this 
period. 

On  the  26th  of  February,  in  32®  30^  fouth  lati- 
tude, the  fhip  was  in  48®  23' 30''  weft  longitude, 
and  on  the  8th  of  March,  in  latitude  36"*  48', 
in  48°  6'  longitude  :  thus,  in  her  route,  fhe  had, 
within  a  few  minutes,  followed  a  meridian  :  fhe 
had  run  258!  miles  to  the  fouth  3*  30'  eaft.  The 
meridian  on  which  the  balanced  efFed  of  the  wind 
and  current  had  nearly  kept  her,  is  only  about  a 
hundred  leagues  diftant  from  that  of  the  vaft 

mouth 


$i6  MARCHAND's  VOYAGE.       [Maixli  1 79 1, 

mouth  of  the  great  River  of  La  Plata,  the  middle 
of  which  is  fituated  on  the  parallel  of  35*  30',  and 
which  occupies  1^  40'  in  latitude,  if  we  meafure 
this  mouth  between  Cape  Antonio,  to  the  fouth, 
and  Cape  Santa  Maria,  to  the  north  :  now, 
from  the  26th  of  February  to  the  8th  of  March, 
tht  fhip  had  failed  between  the  parallels  of  32  and' 
37  degrees  ;  fbe  therefore  croiFed  the  ftrength  of 
the  current  whofe  effefl,  in  ifTuing  from  the  Rio 
DE  LA  Plata,  extends,  like  that  of  the  Mar  anon, 
or  River  of  the  Amazons,  to  a  great  diftance  at 
.'fea;  and  as  this  current  fets  to  the  eaftward,  de~ 
<:lining  towards  the  north,  it  is  not  aflronifliing 
that  the  fhip  fliould  have  been  carried  in  a  di- 
redion  analogous  to  that  of  the  movement  of  the 
waters,  and  with  a  degree  of  velocity  proportionate 
to  that  of  the  current,  or  rather  to  the  excefs  of 
the  ftrength  of  the  latter  beyond  that  of  the  wind 
which  drove  the  (hip  in  an  oppofite  direélion. 

It  might  be  imagined  that  the  ftrength  of  th« 
current  for  carrying  the  ihip  to  the  eaftward,  was 
greater  on  the  laft  days  of  the  period,  than  on 
the  fir  ft,  were  we  to  judge  by  that  with  which 
{he  was  driven  to  the  northward  ;  for  it  may  be 
feen  in  the  Journal  of  the  Route,  that,  from 
the  5th  to  the  7th  of  March,  her  progrefs  in  lati- 
tude, according  to  the  dead  reckoning,  ought  to 
have  been  no  more  than  i?  minutes  towards  the 
north,  and  that,  according  to  the  obfervations  it 
was  I*  4',  which  proves  that,  in  two  days,  the 

6  fliip 


March  1791.]        MARGHAND'S  VOYAGE.  347 

(hip,  by  an  imperceptible  movement,  had  been 
carried  52  minutes,  or  17  j  leagues  to  the  north- 
ward. But  I  remark  that,  on  the  5th,  the  Ihipwas, 
according  to  the  obfervation  of  that  day,  in  latitude 
J7*39>  ^^^^  '^^y  about  1^30^  more  foutherly  than 
the  parallel  of  Cape  Sant  Antonio,  the  fouth 
point  of  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  de  la  Plata  ;  and 
that  it  is  from  this  pofition  that,  in  the  interval 
from  the  5th  to  the  7  th,  as  was  lliewn  by  the 
obfervation  of  this  latter  day,  that  ûic  was  carried 
by  the  movement  of  the  waters,  52  minutes  to 
the  northward  :  which  again  placed  her  25  minutes 

,  only  to  the  fouth  ward  of  the  parallel  of  Cape 
Sant  Antonio  :  flie  had -therefore  pafled  beyond 
the  parallels  of  the  mouth  of  the  river,  when  Ihe 
experienced  this  fécond  movement  towards  the 
north;  and  it  is  prefumable  that  the  great  efFed 
of  the  current  of  the  Rio  de  la  Plata  for  fetting 
to  the  eaftward,  mufl:  be  principally  felt  when  a 
fhip  is  croffing  the  parallels  between  which  its 
mouth  is  fituated.   This  current  towards  the  north 

-  might  therefore  be  an  accidental  current,  a  confe- 
quence  of  winds  from  the  fouthern  quarter  which 
had  previoufly  reigned,  as  the  fwell  from  the  fouth- 
weft  feemed  to  indicate. 

But  the  effect  of  the  accidental  current  ceafed 
on  the  8th;  for  the  refult  of  the  obfervation  of 
latitude  on  the  5th,  compared  with  that  of  the 
dead  reckoning,  proved  that,  from  the  8th  to  the 
9th,  the  fhip  had  been  fet  to  the  fouth  ward  26 

minutes. 


34^  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.       [  March  1791, 

minutes,  or  8|  leagues,  beyond  the  progrefs  by, 
account:  and  from  the  loth  to  the  iith,  the  er- 
ror in  the  fame  diredtion  was  38  minutes,  or  i2| 
leagues. 

Let  us  at  prefent  examine  how  the  longitude 
by  account  according  to  the  calculation  of  the 
^hip*s  run  from  La  Praya,  whence  her  departure 
was  taken  on  the  1 8th  of  January,  agreed,  on  the 
8th  of  March,  with  the  longitude  deduced  from 
the  obfervations  of  that  day. 

It  will  be  feen  in  the  Journal  of  the  Route, 
that  the  longitude  by  account  which,  on  the  26th 
of  February,  was  aftern  of  the  longitude  by  ob- 
fervation,  4°  39',  differs  from  it  in  the  fame  direc- 
tion, on  the  8th  of  March,  no  more  than  53  mi- 
nutes. This  approximation  is  the  effeél  of  the 
error  of  3°  46'  ahead,  which  was  committed  in 
the  dead  reckoning  in  the  interval  from  the  26th 
of  February  to  the  8th  of  March;  the  diminution 
of  the  error  is  therefore  the  efFe6t  of  a  compenfa- 
tion  which  the  oppofite  currents  effeded  without 
the  knowledge  of  the  navigator  ;  but  it  is  not,  on 
that  account,  lefs  evident  that  the  fum  of  the  abfo- 
lute  errors  of  the  dead  reckoning,  in  the  one  di- 
re6tion  or  in  the  other,  in  forty-nine  days,  is  nearly 
eight  degrees  and  a  half. 


NOTE, 


March  1791.]     marchandas  voyage. 


349 


NOTE  XIII. 

The  longitude  deduced  for  the  noon  of  the 
îoth,  by  four  fets  of  diftances  of  the  fun  and 
moon,  obferved  in  the  afternoon,  and  two  fets  of 
diftances  from  the  moon  to  j3  of  Pollux^  obferved 
in  the  evening,  was,  by  a  mean,  found  to  be  53° 
1 6'5  and  in  comparing  it  to  the  longitude  obferved 
on  the  8th,  48*^  6',  the  fhip's  progrefs  towards  the 
weft  was,  in  the  interval  of  the  two  days,  5°  10'. 

It  is  only  4^  56',  by  the  dead  reckoning  :  thus 
the  ihip  was  carried  14  minutes,  or  11  miles,  to 
the  weft  ward. 

The  fhip's  progrefs  in  latitude  towards  the  fouth, 
in  the  fame  fpace  of  time,  was  greater  by  obfer- 
vation  than  by  dead  reckoning,  by  29  minutes, 
or  29  miles. 

On  combining  the  difference  towards  the  weft 
with  the  difference  towards  the  fouth,  it  will  be 
found  that  the  current  which  drove  the  ihip  out 
of  her  apparent  courfe,  carried  her  in  the  dirediion 
of  fouth  20°  45'  weft,  at  the  rate  of  3 1  miles,  in 
two  days,  or  of  15^  miles  in  twenty  -four  hours. 

By  going  through  the  fame  operation  'for  the 
following  days,  and  comparing  the  refults  of  the 
obfervations  with  thofe  of  the  dead  reckoning, 
as  well  for  the  progrefs  in  longitude  as  for  the 
progrefs  in  latitude,  it  will  be  found  : 

That,  from  the  nth  to  the  12th,  the  fliip  ap- 
pears to  have  been  carried  44  minutes,  or  34  miles, 
5  to 


marchand's  voyage.     [March  1791. 

to  the  weft,  and  38  minutes,  or  38  miles  to  the 
fouth    which  gives  fouth  42®  weft  : 

That,  from  the  nth  to  the  12th,  fhe  was  car- 
ried 24  minutes,  or  18.5  miles  to  the  c aft  ;  and 
4  minutes,  or  4  miles  to  the  north  ;  which  gives 
18.6  miles  to  the  eaft  13®  30'  north. 

And  that,  laftly,  from  the  12th  to  the  15th,  ihe 
was  carried  i  minute,  or  1.76  miles  to  the  weft, 
and  23  minutes,  or  23  miles,  to  the  north  j  which 
gives  23  miles  to  the  north  i  or  2°  weft,  and 
7.6  miles  as  the  mean  drift  in  twenty-four 
hours. 

The  a6lion  of  the  currents,  in  the  diredion  of  the 
longitude,  appears  neither  to  have  been  confidcra- 
ble  nor  conftant  in  the  interval  from  the  8  th  to 
the  15th  of  March;  for  the  fum  of  the  differences 
towards  the  weft,  between  the  obfervation  and  the 
dead  reckoning,  is  only  45.75  miles,  1 8.5  of  which 
were  done  away  by  a  difference  of  the  fame  quan* 
tity  towards  the  eaft;  and  there  remain  only  27.25 
miles,  or  35  minutes,  for  the  excefs  of  the  fum  of 
the  differences  towards  the  weft.  Lunar  obfer- 
vations,  made  with  fextants,  as  was  the  cafe  on  1 
board  of  the  Solide,  may  leave  an  uncertainty 
of  about  half  a  degree  refpefting  the  corrednefs 
of  the  refults  :  and,  fhort  of  that  term,  we  may 
be  in  doubt  whether  the  error  belong  to  the  dead 
reckoning  or  to  the  obfervation. 

But  the  adtion  of  the  currents,  in  the  direction 
of  the  latitude,  is  not  doubtful,  becaufe  the  obfer* 

vations  | 


March  1791.]     marchand's  voyage.  351 

vacions  which  determine  ic,  leave  not  more  than 
a  or  3  minutes  of  uncertainty  refpeding  their  re- 
faits :  now,  the  currents  a6led  in  this  direction 
with  rather  confiderablc  ftrength,  and  in  an  inverfc 
direction  to  each  other.  From  the  8th  to  the  loth, 
they  carried  the  fliip  29  minutes,  or  29  miles  to 
the  fouth,  and  from  the  loth  to  the  iith,  38  mi- 
nutes towards  the  fame  fide  :  they  afterwards  car- 
ried her  to  the  north,  from  the  nth  to  tlie  12th, 
4  minutes,  and  from  the  12th  to  the  ifch,  23 
minutes. 

Here  then,  in  the  firft  three  days,  from  the 
8th  to  the  nth,  is  an  unperceived  movement  of 
a  degree,  or  60  miles,  towards  the  fouth;  and 
I  obferve  that,  if  we  judge  from  the  refult  of  the 
obfervations  compared  with  that  of  the  dead  reck- 
oning in  the  fame  days,  the  (hip  was  carried  at  the 
fame  time  towards  the  weft  58  minutes,  or  45 
miles  :  thus  we  here  find  again  the  fetting  of  the 
currents  fuch  as  we  had  prcvioufly  remarked  in 
the  part  of  the  South  Atlantic  Ocean  which 
the  Solide  crofled,  where  the  currents  that  fet  to 
the  Jouthward  fet  at  the  fame  time  to  the  wefiwardy 
and  where  their  tendency  towards  the  former  fide, 
which  it  is  eafy  to  afcertain  by  the  obfervation  of 
the  latitude,  announces  their  tendency  towards  the 
latter,  refpeding  which  it  is  not  fo  eafy  to  deter- 
mine their  effed. 

From  the  nth  to  the  12th,  their  tendency  was 
towards  the  north  and  towards  the  eaft,  and  the 
L  fhip 


35^  marchand's  voyage.     [March  1791.  | 

Ihip  was  carried  4  miles  on  the  former  fide,  and  j; 

18.5  on  the  latter.  I 

But,  from  the  i  2th  to  the  15th,  their  efreft  is  |' 

nearly  null  in  the  direction  of  the  longitude,  and  : 

their  adion  only  carries  the  fhip  23  miles  to  the  ' 

northward.  j 

The  Solide,  on  thefe  laft-mentioned  days,  and  |! 

for  fome  time  pall,  was  failing  at  a  diftance  from  |j 

the  land  which  did  not  exceed  ico  leagues;  fhe  !j 

muft  have  experienced  all  the  variations  of  the  j^i 

current  that  depend  on  the  winds  which  reigned  [ 

or  on  thofe  which  are  reigning,  and  on  the  adion  \\ 

of  the  tides,  combined  with  that  of  the  particular  |] 

currents  of  the  coafts  :  for  it  is  well  known  that,  |l 

in  the  vicinity  of  lands,  and  efpecially  of  great  fi 

continents,  the  currents  vary  infinitely  in  their  li 

velocity  and  direélion  ;  that  thofe  which  are  pro-  j  i 
duced  by  the  winds  change  their  diredion  with 

them,  without  in  other  refpeds  changing  their  ex-  i 
tent  and  velocity  ;  and  that,  in  Ihort,  currents  arc 
metf  with  fetting  in  a  contrary  diredion,  which  are 
occafioned  by  the  horizontal  ofcillations  of  the  . 
open  fea  in  the  flux  and  reflux. 

NOTE  XIV. 

From  the  15th  to  the  22nd  of  March,  the  ob- 
fervations  of  latitude  fliewed  that  the  fhip  was  daily 
carried  to  the  northward  :  the  fum  of  thefe  move- 
ments, contrary  to  the  apparent  courfe,  amounted 

to 


Mardi  1791.]     marchand's  VOYAGE.  253 

to  1°  1 2'  on  the  2  ad  at  noon,  that  is  to  fay,  after 
an  interval  of  feven  days  :  during  the  laft  three  days, 
the  movement  had  been  19,  21,  and  12  minutes  in 
twenty-four  hours  j  but,  on  the  23d,  it  was  dif- 
covered  that,  from  noon  of  the  day  before,  the  cur- 
rents had  ceafed  to  fet  to  the  northward^  and  that, 
on  the  contrary,  they  had  fet  12  minutes  to  the 
fou  th  ward. 

It  was  expelled  that,  fmce  the  tendency  of  the 
currents  had,  in  general,  been  to  the  northward 
with  a  rather  confiderable  degree  of  velocity,  they 
would  have  fet  at  the  fame  time  to  the  caftward  ; 
and  the  refult  of  the  obfervations  for  the  longi- 
tude which  were  made  on  the  23d  at  twenty-eight 
minutes  paft  feven  o'clock  in  the  morning  (a  fet 
of  diftances  obferved  from  the  moon  to  a,  of  Jquila,) 
confirmed  what  had  been  prejudged  from  the  ex- 
perience of  the  run. 

On  comparing  the  refult  of  the  23d  to  that 
of  the  15th  of  the  fame  month,  it  will  be  found 
that,  in  the  interval  of  eight  days,  the  progrefs 
,  towards  the  weft  was  4®  29' j  but,  according  to  the 
dead  reckoning,  it  ought  to  have  been  5°  43^  : 
thus  the  lliip  had  been  carried  to  the  eaftward  by 
the  fetting  of  the  currents,  1°  14',  or  58.4  miles. 

It  has  been  feen  that,  in  the  fame  interval,  flie 
had  been  carried  by  the  fame  a6lion,  i  degree, 
or  60  miles  to  the  northward,  deducing  the  12 
minutes  which  fhe  had  been  carried  to  the  fouth- 
ward  on  the  laft  day  of  the  period, 

VOL.  Ju  A  A  Thus 


354  MARCHANd's  VOYAGE.      [March  1791, 

Thus  the  velocity  of  the  movement  which  the 
current  had  impreffed  on  the  fhip  was  83.75  ^^^^s 
in  eight  days,  in  the  direûion  of  north  44*^  15'  weft, 
and  her  mean  drift  in  tweny-four  hours,  10.4 
miles, 

NOTE  XV. 

Four  fets  of  diftances  of  the  fun  and  moon,  ob- 
ferved  on  the  25th  at  thirty-four  minutes  paft 
eight  o'clock  in  the  morning,  gave  for  the  longi- 
tude at  noon,  63°  23'  :  and  as  that  of  the  23d  was 
62*  15',  the  progrefs  towards  the  weft,  in  two  days, 
had  been  i"*  8'. 

That  which  was  indicated  by  the  refult  of  the 
dead  reckoning,  for  the  fame  interval,  was  only 
1 8  minutes:  thus  the  unpcrceived  movement  of 
the  fhip  towards  the  weft  had  been  50  minutes  or 
36  miles. 

According  to  the  obfervations  of  latitude,  the 
fhip  had  been  carried,  during  the  fame  time,  ir 
minutes,  or  11  miles  to  the  northward. 

Thus  the  compound  effed  of  the  current  had 
caufed  the  fhip  to  make  37  miles  in  the  direction 
of  weft  if  15'  north,  at  the  mean  rate  of  18.5 
miles  in  twenty-four  hours. 

NOTE  XVI. 
By  two  fets  of  diftances  of  the  fun  and  moôtt 
on  the  27th  at  9^  1^40"  A.  M.  and  the'  refiilf^ 


March  1791.]        MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE,  355 

which  was  reduced  to  noon,  it  was  found  that, 
from  noon  of  the  25th,  the  Ihip's  progrefs  towards 
the  weft  had  been  i°  25'. 

According  to  the  dead  reckoning,  it  ought  to 
be  2®  11':  thus,  the  currents  had  carried  her  46 
minutes,  or  82.2  miles  to  the  eaftward. 

The  progrefs  in  latitude  towards  the  fouth  was 
greater  according  to  the  obfervation  than  accord- 
ing to  the  dead  reckoning,  by  2  minutes  or  2 
miles. 

The  effed  of  the  current  is  therefore  reprefented 
by  32.3  miles  in  the  diredion  of  eaft  3°  30'  fouth  j 
and  the  mean  drift  of  the  fhip,  in  that  diredioni 
v  Was  1 6.1  miles  in  twenty-four  hours. 

NOTE  XVII. 

The  refult  of  four  fets  of  diftances  from  the 
^moon  to  the  fun,  and  of  one  fet  from  th^  moon 
to  Ant  ares  y  obferved  on  the  28  th  and  reduced  to 
rnoon,  fhewed  that,  from  the  27th  to  the  28th, 
?  the  progrefs  towards  the  weft  had  been  20  minutes  : 
I  f  it  therefore  was  24  minutes  according  to  the  d  ead 
jTeckoning;  thus  the  difference  was  only  4  minutes 
^  or  2.5  miles. 

The  progrefs  towards  the  fouth  was  fmaller 
.-•  according  to  the  obfervation  than  according  to  the 
reckoning  by  5  minutes  or  5  miles. 

Thefe  differences  are  too  fmall  for  us  to  be  able 
thence  to  draw  any  conclufion  relatively  to  the 

A  A  2  cfFeft 


33^  marchand's  voyage.       [March  1791, 

efFed  of  the  currents  :  the  refult  of  the  calculation 
merely  indicates  an  unperceived  movement  in 
twenry-four  hours  of  5.6  miks  to  the  north  26°  30^ 
eafl* 

NOTE  xvm. 

On  reducing  to  noon  of  the  30th  the  refult  of 
four  fets  of  diftances  of  the  moon  from  the  fun, 
and  of  one  fet  from  the  moon  to  Antares,  obferved 
that  fame  day,  it  was  found  that,  fince  noon  of 
the  28th  the  progrefs  towards  the  weft  had  been 
2^  33';  and  that  indicated  by  the  dead  reckoning 
was  the  fame. 

But  the  progrefs  towards  the  fouth,  in  the  ifi- 
terv^al  of  the  two  days  was  greater  according  "to 
the  obfervations  than  according  to  the  dead  reck- 
oning, by  22  minutes,  or  22  miles. 

It  thence  refults  that  the  fhip  had  been  carried 
22  miles  in  two  days,  or  1 1  miles  rn  twenty-foiir 
hours. 

It  is  feen  that,  from  the  23d  the  fetting  of  the 
currents  and  their  elieci:  on  the  fhip's  courfe,  no 
longer  indicate  the  fame  diredions  as  thofe  which 
had  been  remarked  in  the  early  part  of  the  run, 
after  the  fhip  had  reached  the  latitude  of  5®  fouth. 
But  the  irregularities  which  are  obferved  at  prefent 
will  no  longer  occafion  furprife,  ifswe  confider  the 
difpofition  of  the  lands  to  the  eaftward  of  which 
the  Solide  recently  failed  :  they  here  form  a  long 
gulf,  at  the  Southern  extremity  of  which  is  fi tuated 

the 


March  1791.]      marchand's  voyage. 


3<57 


the  Strait  of  Magellan  ;  and  to  the  eaftward 
of  this  ftrait  lies  the  archipelago  of  Falkland's 
Iflands  which  forms  with  the*  coafr  of  the  contiiient 
a  channel  eighty  leagues  in  width.  Since  the  17th 
of  the  month,  the  ihip  had  reached  the  60th  oieri- 
dian  weft,  and,  on  that  very  day,  had  begun  to 
ftrike  foundings  in  feventy  fathoms  :  having  arrived 
at  this  longitude,  flie  failed  at  too  fmall  a  diftance 
from  the  land,  for  her  to  feel  the  general  effect 
of  the  currents  which  a6t  in  the  open  fea  >  and  fhe 
mult  have  experienced  the  irregularities,  the  va- 
riations of  thofe  which  the  ofcillations  of  the  fea 
impelled  horizontally  by  the  alternate  motion  of 
the  flux  and  reflux,  the  little  depth  of  the  waters, 
the  inequalities  of  the  bottom,  as  well  as  the  dif- 
pofltion  and  configuration  of  the  lands,  mufl:  ne- 
ceflarily  produce  in  a  trad  of  fea  where  fo  many 
caufes  of  irregularity,  which  may  either  a6l  fepa- 
rately  or  combine  their  efl^eds^,  are  thus  united. 


NOTE  XIX, 

It  had  been  obferved  that,  from  the  28th,  the 
currents  fet  to  the  Eaftward  at  the  fame  time  that 
they  fet  to  the  Southward:  and  the  obfervations 
of  the  30th  having  fliewn  that  this  tendency  to 
the  fouthward  continued,  it  was  judged  that  that 
which  the  waters  had  at  the  fame  time  kept  to  the 
eafl:ward  might  probably  not  ceafe  while  the  (hip 
was  croffing  the  parallel  of  the  mouth  of  the 

A  A3  Strait 


35^  MARCH and's  voyage.      [March  1791. 

Strait  of  Magellan  :  it  was,  in  confequence, 
decided,  that,  in  the  dead  reckoning  till  fhe  came 
within  fight  of  Staten  Land  which  Captain 
Marchand  intended  to  make,  15  minutes  per 
day  fhould  be  allowed  for  the  effed  of  the  currents, 
that  is,  that  1 5  minutes  fhould  be  deducted  from 
the  daily  progrefs  to  the  v/eftward  which  the  calcu- 
lations of  the  ihip's  run  might  appear  to  indicate. 

On  the  I  ft  of  April,  at  noon,  Staten  Land'  was 
difcovered  from  the  tops  ;  but  it  was  not  till  four 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  that  Captain  Marchand 
very  plainly  diftinguifhed  Cape  San  Juan,  the 
moft  eaftern  point  of  that  land,  which  bore  fouth 
I  or  2°  weft,  at  the  diftance  of  thirteen  or  fourteen 
leagues  eftimated  by  the  eye. 

On  adopting  the  longitude  of  that  cape,  fuch  as 
it  was  determined  in  Captain  Cook's  fécond  voy- 
age*, 296°  13'  eaft  from  Greenwich,  or  66°  7' 
15'^  weft  from  Paris,  that  of  the  fliip,  according 
to  the  bearings,  ftiould  not  differ  from  it  in  a 
quantity  to  which  it  is  neceffary  to  pay  attention  ; 
and  we  may  confider  the  Solide  as  being,  at  four 
o'clock,  under  the  very  meridian  of  Cape  San 
Juan. 

From  noon  on  the  30th  of  March  till  four 
o'clock  on  the  ift  of  April,  the  progrefs  in  lon- 

^  See  The  original  Aflronomical  Ohfer<vaitons  made  tn  the 
edur/r  of  a  Voyage  ionvards  the  South  Pole  and  round  the  World^ 
Uc»  hj  W.  Wales,   London,  1777,  4(0.  page  329. 

gitude. 


April  1791.]        marchand's  voyage. 


259 


gitude,  fuch  as  it  was  indicated  by  the  dead  reck- 
oning, uncorredled,  was  43  minutes  towards  the 
eaft  ;  and  by  deducting  that  quantity  from  67®  41', 
the  longitude  by  obfervation  of  the  30th  at  noon, 
that  of  the  ift  of  April  at  four  o*clock  was  66°  58^ 
but  it  ought  to  have  been  only  66"*  7'  15'':  thus 
the  error  on  making  the  land  was  50!  minutes 
abeady  or  about  10  leagues  on  the  parallel  which 
the  fliip  had  reached. 

But  if,  regard  being  had,  as  was  the  cafe,  to 
^he  corredlion  relative  to  the  effed  of  the  currents, 
which  the  experience  of  the  preceding  days  had 
indicated,  we  add  15  minutes  for  every  twenty- 
four  hours,  that  is,  30  minutes,  from  the  30th  of 
March  to  the  ift  of  April,  to  the  progrcfs  towards 
the  eaft  which  the  dead  reckoning  indicated,  we 
fliall  have  13'  to  dedudt  from  the  longitude  by 
obfervation  of  the  30th  at  noon  ;  and  that  of  the 
jft  of  April,  at  four  o'clock,  will  be  66°  28^ 
Thus  the  error  of  this  determination,  compared 
with  the  longitude  of  Cape  San  Juan,  is  only  20| 
minutes,  or  about  4  leagues  :  and,  indeed,  Staten 
Land  was  perceived  at  noon  on  the  firft  of  April, 
at  the  moment  when  the  dead  reckoning,  cor- 
rected and  deduced  from  the  longitude  by  obfer- 
vation of  the  30th  of  March,  announced  that  it 
ought  to  be  difcerned. 

If,  in  order  to  afcertain  the  efFedt  of  the  cur- 
rents in  the  interval  from  the  30th  of  March  to 
the  ift  of  April,  we  compare  the  longitude  by 
A  A  4  obfervation 


360  MARCHANd's  VOYAGE.         [April  I79I. 

obfervation  of  the  30th  at  noon,  67°  41',  with  ^ 
66°  8^  the  longitude  of  the  ift  of  April  at  noon, 
according  to  the  bearings  of  Cape  San  Juan, 
taken  at  four  o'clock  5  it  will  be  feen  that  the  pro- 
grefs  towards  the  eafl:  was  1^33':  and  according 
to  the  dead  reckoning,  it  ought  to  have  been 
only  42  minutes  :  thus  the  fliip  was  carried,  by 
the  currents,  57  minutes,  or  30.8  miles  to  the 
eaftward. 

On  comparing  with  each  other  the  latitudes  by 
obfervation  and  thofe  by  account  on  thefe  two 
days,  ^we  find  that  the  Ihip  was  carried  to  the 
northward  i  minute  from  the  30th  to  the  31ft,  and 
from  the  30th  to  the  31  ft,  11  minutes:  in  all  12 
minutes. 

Thus,  in  the  interval  of  the  two  days,  the 
movement  of  the  waters  caufed  the  fhip  to  make 
33.25  miles  in  the  direélion  of  eaft  17°  30'  north, 
at  the  mean  rate  of  16.6  miles  in  twenty-four 
hours. 

It  is  feen  that,  from  the  25th  of  March  to  the 
I  ft  of  April,  between  the  parallels  of  44  and  54 
degrees,  and  between  the  63rd  and  the  66th  me- 
ridian weft,  the  diredion  of  the  currents  was  con- 
fiant towards  the  eaft,  declining  fometimes  towards 
the  fouth,  fometimes  towards  the  north.  If  we 
wifti  to  comprize  in  a  fingle  calculation  this  whole 
period,  in  order  to  know  what  was,  pending  its 
durati^  n,  the  mean  cfft6l  of  the  currents  on  the 
ihip's  courfc  ^  it  will  be  found  that  flie  was  carried, 

in 


April  1791.]      marchand's  voyage. 


361 


in  the  interval  of  feven  days,  7  miles  to  the  fouth- 
ward,  and  65.5  to  the  eaftward  :  and  on  com- 
bining thefe  two  elements,  it  will  be  feen  that  fhe 
was  carried  66  miles  in  the  diredion  of  eaft  6°  15^ 
fouth,  at  a  mean  rate  of  9I  miles  in  twenty-four 
hours. 

The  longitude  by  account,  fuch  as  it  was  de- 
duced from  the  calculation  of  the  fhip's  run  from 
La  Praya,  whence  her  departure  was  taken,  on 
the  1 8th  of  January,  till  fhe  came  within  fight 
of  Staten  Land,  on  the  ifl:  of  April  at  noon, 
was  66"^  45':  and  if  we  thence  dedud  i  minute 
for  the  progrefs  towards  the  eaft  from  noon  till 
four  o'clock  on  this  latter  day,  we  fliail  have  66^ 
44'  for  the  longitude  by  account  at  the  moment 
of  taking  the  bearings,  which  placed  the  fhip 
under  the  meridian  of  Cape  San  Juan,  and  con- 
fequently  in  66°  7'.    Thus  the  dead  reckoning, 
at  the  time  of  making  the  land,  was  in  error  only 
37  minutes,  or  about  7  leagues  ahead.    But  the 
following  Table  will  Ihew  that  this  exadnefs  is 
not  a  proof  that  the  (hip's  courfe  and  diftance 
run  were  well  calculated  in  the  courfe  of  the  run  ; 
it  is  folely  due  to  compenfations,  by  means  of 
which,  by  a  fortunate  chance,  great  errors  in  one 
diredion  were  done  away  by  equal  errors  in  an 
pppofite  direftion. 


After 


3^^^  marchand's  voyage.       [April  ly^t» 

After  having  dedudled  from  the  fum  of  the 
differences  ^lus^  or  in  excefs,  which  is  7°  6\  that 
of  the  differences  minus,  or  in  defcd,  6°  the 
error  of  the  dead  reckoning  on  making  the  land 
is  reduced,  by  the  chance  and  effed  of  com- 
perifations  to  37  minutes  in  excefs,  or  ahead  of 
the  ihip. 

But  the  fum  of  the  errors,  in  the  one  diredion 
or  in  the  other,  was  13*^  35^  in  the  courfe  of  a, 
run  of  fevenry-three  days.  A  time-piece  or  chro- 
nometer, fuch  as  thofe  which  are  at  this  day  to 
be  procured  in  France,  v/ould  not  have  left,  at 
the  clofe  of  this  period,  an  uncertainty  of  a  quarter 
of  a  degree  refpeâ:ing  the  longitude  which  it  would 
have  indicated  :  and  in  all  cafes,  the  error  that 
may  be  apprehended  from  the  method  of  diftances 
from  the  moon  to  the  fun  or  ftars,  commonly 
called  the  lunar  method,  will  not  amount  to  half 
a  degree,  if,  in  taking  the  obfervation,  the  na- 
vigator make  ufe  of  Bord  a 's  refleding  circles. 

I  infifl,  and  lhall  never  ceafe  to  infift,  on  this 
comparifon  of  the  refult  of  the  common  methods 
with  that  of  the  new  :  we  cannot  too  frequently 
repeat,  that  if,  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury>  when  men  of  fciencc  and  artifts  have  em- 
ployed themfelves,  with  fo  .much  fuccefs,  con- 
cerning the  problem  of  the  longitude  at  fea,  fea- 
men  know  not  how  to  guard  againft  great  errors 


*  See  Vol.  I.  page  3,  Note  *. 


in 


.79- 

January 
From  the  :  8 

February 

to  the  6th 
From  the  6th  to  the  yth 
From  the  yth  to  the  8  th 
From  the  8th  to  the  9th 
From  the  9th  to  the  12th 
From  the  1 2  th  to  the  1 5  th 
From  the  i  jth  to  the  1 6th 
From  the  i6th  to  the  25th 
From  the  25th  to  the  26th 
From  the  26th 
March 

to  the  8th 
From  the  8  th  to  the  loth 
From  the  loth  to  the  nth 
From  the  nth  to  the  12th 
From  the  12th  to  the  15  th 
From  the  15th  to  the  23d 
From  the  2  5dto  the  2jth 
From  the  2  5th  to  the  27th 
From  the  27  th  to  the  28  th 
From  the  2  8  th  to  the  30th 
From  the  30th 
April 

to  the  ift 

h 

i 

f 

t 

Son      -îr^v^-ff^^jf  ÏT-j  on^  01  «3      ^^jcJ^c:!.  »vo  S,-!î      Jq  0 

1  [ . 

f 

w               NOw'-'-f^'-ONK-^O                     Oi-iNN-OO           W  0 

in  Uie  interval 

Obfervations, 
according  to 
Observation. 

Progrefs  in 
Loiigitude 

w        ^.^^.^.^.^.^.^^.^        ^^^^^^^^  ^ 

i 

in  tlte  interval 

of  the 
Obfervations, 
accords,  to  the 
Dead 

0           OOOOwOOOOtn           Oi-iOOOOOO        >-*  -0 

J.  ■       r      ?°v^  r  r    p                          ^  ^ 

> 

o 

n 
o 

> 

o 


April  1791»]      marchand's  voyage,  363 

in  their  route,  it  is  neither  Science  nor  Art  that 
we  muft  blame,  but  the  unpardonable  indifference 
of  thofe  who  are  cither  ignorant  of  them,  or  call 
them  in  queftion. 


THIRD 


3^4 


marcmand's  voyage.      [Aprii  1791, 


THIRD  RUN 

From  8TATEN  LAND  to  the  IJlands  called 
LAS  MARIES  AS  de  MENBOÇA. 

On  the  ift  of  April,  at  noon,  the  Soi. i de  took 
her  departure  from  within  fight  of  StatenLand, 
in  latitude  53°  56'  fouth,  and  longitude  66°  8^ 
weft. 

NOTE  XX, 

On  comparing  to  the  longitude  of  the  place 
whence  the  departure  was  taken  that  of  the  nth  at 
noon,  fuch  as  it  was  deduced  from  two  fets  of 
diftances  of  the  fun  and  moon,  obferved  at  four 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  that  is  to  fay,  on  com- 
paring 77^  2  fi^^  the 
interval  of  ten  days,  the  fliip's  progrefs  towards 
the  weft,  was,   according  to   the  obfervations, 

55' 

But  on  failing  from  the  fame  longitude  of  the 
point  whence  the  departure  was  taken,  the  fum  of 
the  ftiip's  daily  progrefs  towards  the  weft,  calcu- 
lated according  to  the  dead  reckoning,  gives  for 
the  total  progrefs,  13*^  i'  :  thus  the  ftiip  was  car- 
ried to  the  eaftward,  and  her  perceived  progrefs 
towards  the  weft,  diminiftied,  2^  6',  or  68.6 
miles. 

At 


April  1791.]       marChand's  voyage.  365 

At  the  fame  time  flie  was  carried  to  the  north- 
ward, beyond  the  progrefs  by  account  towards 
that  lame  fide,  28  minutes^  or  28  miles. 

The  movement  of  the  waters  therefore  caufed 
her  to  make,  in  ten  days,  73.5  miles  to  the  eaft 
22°  30'  north,  at  the  mean  rate  of  71  miles  in 
twenty-four  hours. 

In' the  interval  from  the  ift  to  the  nth  of 
Aprih  the  fliip  had  doubled  Gape  Horn  without 
going  in  fight  of  it,  after  having  got  nearly  as 
high  as  the  parallel  of  60°. 

NOTE  XXL 

The  refult  of  the  obfervations  for  the  longitude 
made  on  the  19th  (a  fet  of  diilances  from  the 
moon  to  Spca  Virginis )^  reduced  to  noon  of  that 
day,  and  compared  to  the  longitude  on  the  nth 
at  noon^  gives  for  the  fhip's  progrefs  towards 
the  weft,  in  the  interval  from  the  nth  to  the  19th 
16°  16';  and  that  which  w^as  deduced  from  the 
dead  reckoning,  being  only  14°  f  the  difference 
of  thefe  two  progrefles,  9',  or  71^  miles,  is  the 
quantity  which  the  currents  had  carried  the  fnip 
towards  the  weil  beyond  her  perceived  move- 
m.ent. 

The  comparifon  of  the  latitudes  obfcrved  with 
thofe  which  were  deduced  from  the  dead  reckon- 
ing, proved  that,  in  the  fun e  fp ace  of  time,  the 
Ihip  was  carried  to  the  fouthward,  and  the  pro- 


366  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE»        [April  179!, 

grefs  by  account  towards  the  north  diminiflied 
1°  io\  or  80  miles:  and  of  this  quantity,  36 
minutes  belong  to  the  interval  from  the  iith  to 
the  i8th,  and  40,  to  that  from  the  i6th  to  the 
i8th. 

The  direftion  imprefled  on  the  fhip  by  the 
current  was  therefore  fouth  41^  45'  weft,  and  the 
diftance  run  in  that  diredion  was  107 J  miles; 
which  gives  a  mean  rate  of  13.4  miles  in  twenty- 
four  hours. 

We  here  find  again  the  fetting  of  the  currents 
the  fame  as  it  was  obferved  in  the  South  At- 
lantic Ocean,  when  the  fhip  failed  at  a  fufE- 
ciently  great  diftance  from  the  land  not  to  feel  the 
adion  of  the  currents  of  the  coaft,  or  of  acci- 
dental currents:  v/e  fee  that,  from  the  ift  to 
the  iith  of  April,  at  the  fame  time  that  they  fet 
to  the  Eaftwardy  they  alfo  fet  to  the  Northward  ; 
and  that,  from  the  nth  to  the  19th,  when  they  fet 
to  the  ÎVeftwardy  they  at  the  fame  time  fet  to  the 
Southward. 

It  may  be  remarked  that,  from  the  ift  to  the 
nth  of  April,  the  ftiip's  progrefs  by  account  to- 
wards the  weft  had  been  too  great  by  2°  6',  and 
that  from  the  nth  to  the  19th  it  is  too  Jmall  by 
2^9':  it  refults  from  this  compenfation  that  the 
longitude  by  account,  deduced  from  that  of  Cape 
San  Juan  in  Staten  Land,  was,  on  the  nth, 
in  error  2°  9'  towards  the  Weft  ;  and  that,  on  the 
ï9th,  it  was  in  error  3  minutes  towards  the  Eaft-: 

thus 


April  1791.]         MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


3^7 


thus  the  chance  of  compenfations  brought  the  lon- 
gitude by  account  to  agree,  very  nearîy,  with  that 
which  was  deduced  from  the  obfervations. 

NOTE  XXII. 

Two  fets  of  diftances  of  the  fun  and  moon, 
obferved  on  the  24th  at  thirty-five  minutes  after 
eight  in  the  morning,  gave  for  the  longitude  of 
that  day  at  noon,  9  5°  1 8'. 

Two  other  fets  obferved  tht  next  day,  at  twenty- 
three  minutes  pad  nine  o'clock  in  the  mornings 
gave  for  the  longitude  of  the  25  th,   at  noon^ 

96°  9'. 

It  refults  from  thefe  obfervations,  that  the  fhip's 
progrefs  towards  the  weft  had  been  0°  5/  in  the 
twenty-four  hoursj  and,  according  to  the  dead, 
reckoning,  this  progrefs  appeared  to  be  only  5 
minutes. 

If,  from  the  19th  to  the  25th,  the  iatkudes 
obferved  be  compared  with  thofe  which  were  de- 
duced from  the  calculation  of  the  courfes  which 
deviated  little  from  the  direftion  of  north  for  a 
diftance  of  128  leagues  in  latitude,  it  will  be 
remarked,  that,  with  the  exception  of  the  interval 
from  the  20th  to  the  23d,  during  which  the  fliip 
was  driven  back  to  the  fouthward,  17  minutes 
in  three  days,  or  5^  minutes  in  twenty-four  hours, 
the  difference  between  the  refult  of  the  dead  reck- 
oning and  chat  of  the  obfervation>.  in  all  the  other 
I  days 


368  MARGHAND-S. VOYAGE.        [April  179!, 

days  of  the  period,  was  almoft  nothing  ;  and  it 
may  be  concluded  that  the  currents,  if  anyexifted, 
a6led  but  with  little  ftrength,  and  only  in  the  in- 
terval from  the  20th  to  the  23d  :  it  may  there- 
fore be  admitted  too  that,  in  that  from  the  24th' 
to  the  25th,  when  the  difference  between  the 
latitude  by  account  and  the  latitude  by  obferva- 
tion  is  only  i  minute,  the  currents,  aded  no  more 
towards  the  eaft  or  towards  the  weft,  than  towards 
the  north  or  towards  the  fouth  ;  and  we  are  autho- 
rized to  conflder  the  progrefs  by  account  of  5 
minutes  in  longitude  towards  the  weft  as  nearly 
exa6l,  and  that  of  51  minutes  which  the  obfer- 
vations  indicated,  as  much  too  great.  But  as  it 
is  not  poffible  to  difcover  whether  the  error  be- 
longs wholly  to  one  of  the  obfervations,  or  whether 
both  participated  in  it,  we  deem  it  expedient  to 
take  a  mean  between  the  re  fuit  of  the  24th  and 
that  of  the  25th,  admitting  as  exad  the  progrefs 
by  account  in  longitude  in  the  interval  of  the  two 
days. 

Thus,  the  longitude  by  obfervation  of  the  24th 
is  95°  18',  add  to  it  the  progrefs  by  account,  5 
minutes,  you  will  have,  for  the  25th,  a  firft  longi- 
tude deduced  from  the  longitude  obferved  of  the 
I24th,  and  it  will  be  95°  23'  :  take  a  mean  between 
the  latter  and  that  given  by  the  obfervations  of 
the  25th,  96°  9^  you  will  have  for  the  latter  day, 
a  corre6ted  and  mean  longitude  which  will  be 

,  6  ^  Now, 


April  17^1  •]         MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  369 

Now,  if  we  compare  this  laft-mentioned  lon- 
gitude with  that  deduced  from  the  obfervations 
of  the  19th  at  noon,  we  fliall  find  that,  in  the 
interval  from  the  19th  to  the  25th,  in  fix  days, 
the  progrefs  towards  the  weft  had  been  2®  27'  : 
and  if  we  compare  with  each  other  the  determi- 
nations of  the  dead  reckoning  for"  the  fame  days, 
we  fee  that  it  indicates  a  progrefs  of  2^  26'  in 
the  fame  dire<5lion  :  the  difference  therefore  is  only 
I  minute,  or  tvyo-thirds  of  a  mile  on  the  fide  of 
the  dead  reckoning  :  thus,  it  does  not  appear  that, 
in  the  interval  of  thefe  fix  days,  the  fliip  ex- 
perienced, from  the  currents,  a  perceptible  de« 
rangement  in  the  diredion  of  the  longitude  ;  but, 
in  the  fame  fpace  of  time,  flie  was  carried  17 
minutes,  or  1 7  miles  to  the  fouthward  ;  which  in- 
dicates, for  the  direftioh  of  the  current,  fouth  2^ 
15'  weft,  and  for  its  efFed  on  the  Ihip  in  that  di- 
reftion,  17.02  miles  or  2.84  miles  a  day. 

The  longitude  by  account,  deduced  from  that 
of  Cape  San  Juan  in  Staten  Land,  continues, 
as  is  feen  in  the  Journal  of  the  Route,  to 
agree,  within  4  minutes,  with  that  which  refulted 
from  the  obfervations  ;  but  it  is  well  known  that 
this  agreement  is  the  efitft  of  the  fortunate  com- 
penfation  that  took  place,  between  the  error  of  the 
former  period,  from  the  ift  to  the  iith  of  April, 
and  that  which  occurred  in  an  oppofite  diredion, 
in  the  latter,  from  the  iith  to  the  19th  of  the  fame 
month. 

VOL.  It,  B  B  NOT 


marchand's  voyage*       [May  1791. 


NOTE  XXIIL 

Obfervatlons  made  on  the  8th  of  May,  at  forty- 
eight  minutes  paft  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,, 
and  reduced  to  noon  of  that  day,  gave  96**  44'  for 
the  longitude  ;  and  other  obfervations  made  on 
the  9th  at  feven  minutes  after  four  in  the  afternoon, 
and,  in  like  manner,  reduced  to  noon,  gave  96° 
55':  thus,  in  the  interval  of  twenty-four  hours, 
the  fhip's  progrefs  in  longitude  was,  according  to 
the  obfervations,  11  minutes  towards  the  weft. 
That  which  was  deduced  from  the  dead  reckon- 
ing, for  the  fame  interval,  was,  on  the  contrary^^ 
3  minutes  towards  the  caft. 

As  the  progrefs  in  latitude  according  to  the 
dead  reckoning  had  differed  only  by  3  or  4  mi- 
nutes, from  the  progrefs  by  obfervation  from  the 
7th  to  the  8th,  and  from  the  8th  to  the  9th,  it  was 
prefumed  that  the  a6lion  of  the  currents  had  been 
fcarcely  perceptible  in  the  laft  two  days  of  this  pe*  | 
riod,  and  the  progrefs  by  account  of  3  minutes  I 
towards  the  eaft  in  the  interval  from  the  8th  to  the  | 
9th  was  admitted.  | 

On  applying  this  progrefs  by  account  to  the  | 
longitude  by  obfervation  of  the  8th  at  noon,  which  jp 
was  the  mean  reluit  of  fix  fets  of  diftances  of  the  j| 
lun  and  moon,  a  frefh  refult,  which  was  96^  41',  | 
was  had  for  the  longitude  of  the  9th  at  noon  :  | 
then  taking  a  mean  between  the  latter  and  that  || 
of  96^5^;'  given  by  the  obfervations  of  the  9th  ! 

for 


May  1791.]         MARCHAND*S  VOYAGE.'  37 1 

for  noon  of  that  fame  day,  we  have  96^  48',  a  mean 
refult  which  partakes  of  the  obfervations  of  the 
8th  and  thofe  of  the  9th* 

Now,  if,  by  a  proceeding  fimilar  to  that  which 
we  have  juft  employed,  we  compare  this  latter 
refult  with  the  longitude  of  the  25th  of  April, 
95°  46',  we  fliall  find  that,  from  the  25th  of  April 
to  the  9th  of  May,  the  Ihip  advanced  towards  the 
weft,  1°  2^  But,  according  to  the  dead  reck- 
oning, this  progrefs  ought  to  be  3*^  o':  the  error 
of  the  reckoning  was  therefore,  in  fourteen  days, 
I®  58',  or  93  mr.es  ahead^  that  is  to  fay  that,  in 
this  interval,  the  fhip  had  been  carried  this  latter 
quantity  towards  the  eaft  :  and  as  the  comparifon 
of  the  latitudes  by  obfervation  and  thofe  by  ac- 
count, announced  that,  during  the  fame  time,  flie 
had  been  carried  to  the  northward  a  quarter  of 
a  degree,  or  15  miles,  it  thence  refults  that  the 
current  which  had  driven  the  fhip  from  her  appa- 
rent courfe,  caufed  her  to  make  95^  miles  in  the 
direction  of  eaft  (f  15'  north,  at  the  mean  rate  of 
6.8  miles  in  twenty-four  hours. 


NOTE  XXIV. 

Two  fets  of  diftances  of  the  fun  and  moon 
obferved  on  the  12th  at  twenty  minutes  paft  three 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  two  fets  of  dif- 
tances from  the  moon  to  Sfica  Virginis^  obferved 
on  the  evening  of  the  fame  day,  both  reduced 

B  B  2  to 


3/2  MARCH  AN  d's  VOYAGE.  [May  1791, 

to  noon,  gave,  by  a  mean,  98°  51'  for  the  lon- 
gitude. 

On  comparing  it  to  that  of  the  9th  at  noon,  96* 
48',  we  find  2®  3'  progrefs  towards  the  weft.  The 
progrcfs  by  account  towards  the  fame  fide,  in  the 
fanie  interval,  is  i*'  55';  the  différence  which  is 
only  8  minutes,  or  7  miles,  would  indicate  that 
the  fliip  was  driven  that  quantity  towards  the  weft 
beyond  her  apparent  run  :  and  as  the  obfervations 
of  latitude  prove  that  flie  was,  at  the  fame  time, 
carried  10  minutes  or  10  miles  to  the  fouthward;^ 
it  may  be  concluded  that  the  efFeâ:  of  the  currents 
was  i2|  miles  to  the  fouth  34**  45'  weft,  and  4  miles 
in  twenty- four  hours. 

NOTE  XXV. 

On  the  23d,  a  mean  between  the  refults  of 
fix  fets  of  diftances  of  the  fun  and  moon,  obfcrvcd 
at  thirty-one  minutes  paft  eight  in  the  morning, 
gave  for  the  longitude  at  noon,  in**  56':  that  of 
the  1 2th  at  noon,  was  98^  51':  thus,  in  the  interval 
of  eleven  days,  the  progrefs  towards  the  weft,  w^s 
according  to  the  obfervations,  13**  5'. 

According  to  the  dead  reckoning,  it  was  only 
9*  53':  thus  the  fliip  had  been  carried  to  the 
weftward  3^  12^5  and  the  error  of  the  reckoning 
aftern^  had  been  this  quantity,  or  173  miles,  in  the 
interval  of  eleven  days. 

If 


May  1791.]       marchand's  voyage. 


373 


If  we  compare  the  latitudes  obferved  every  day 
with  thofe  indicated  by  the  dead  reckoning,  wc 
fliall  find  that,  in  the  fame  fpace  of  time,  the 
fliip  was  carried  by  the  movement  of  the  waters^, 
52  minutes,  or  52  miles,  to  the  fouttiward. 

On  combining  the  173  miles  Welling  with  the 
52  miles  Southing,  it  will  be  feen  that  the  efFedt 
of  the  current  on  the  fliip's  courfe  was  180.5  miles, 
or  6o|  leagues,  in  the  diredlion  of  weft  16^  45' 
fouth  ;  and  the  mean  drift  16.4  miles,  or  about  5^ 
leagues,  in  twenty-four  hours, 

NOTE  XXVI. 
If  we  wifh  to  make,  for  the  following  days, 
the  24th,  25th,  26th,  and  27th,  when  fets  of 
diftances  of  the  moon  from  the  fun  or  ftars  were 
obferved,  the  fame  calculations  which  we  made  for 
the  23d,  the  following  refults  will  be  found, 

ÎAccordingtotheOb--.     The  Ihip  was 
fervationsi°45'W./  carried  to  the 
According  to  the  D.  Ï  weftward  in  24 
-  reckoning  1°  17'  W.  3  hours. . .  28'. 
According  to  the  obfervations  of  latitude 

fhe  was  carried  to  the  fouth  ward  o**  10' 


From  the  r -^^^^^^^"g  ^   — 

24th  to)    ^^^^^^^^"s  ^^ï^'W.  f    Carried  to  the 

the  2  tj^i-^^^^^^^^S  ^*  Ç  w^^^^^^ 

^  reckoning  1°  00' W. 
According  to  the  obfervations  of  latitude 

To  the  fouthward   o**  14^ 

B  B  3  From 


374  warchand's  voyage.        [May  1791. 

From  the  r^^'^^'^'^g'^^^^^^-;) 
î25thto3  ^^^^^t^o"so''4i'W.  f    Carried  to  the 
the  26th  /  ^^^^^^^^ë     the  D.  t  weftward . .  6' 

^  reckoning  0°  35 'W.-^ 
According  to  the  obfervations  of  latitude 

To  the  northward  o''  2^' 


From  the  f^^'^^^^^g^^^'^^^b.^ 
26th  to  3  ^^rvatio^^so"  56' W.  f    Carried  to  the 

the  27th /'^^^^^^^"^^^^^^^'('^^^^^^^•- 
^  reckoning 48' W.-^ 

According  to  the  obfervations  of  latitude 

To  the  fouthward   o''  4' 


The  fum  of  the  quantities  which  the  fhip  ad- 
vanced towards  the  weft  beyond  the  progrefs  by 
account,  from  the  23d  to  the  27th,  was  0°  58^ or 
54  milès,  and  that  which  fhe  was  carried  to  the 
fouthward  26  minutes,  or  26  miles:  on  combining 
thefe  two  fums,  we  find  that  the  aélion  of  the  cur- 
rent carried  the  ftiip,  in  the  interval  of  four  days, 
59  miles,  to  the  weft  23°  30'  fouth  ;  this  is,  at 
the  rate  of  14.75  n^il^s,  or  about  five  leagues  in 
twenty-four  hours. 

If  it  be  wiftied  to  embrace  a  longer  period, 
that  from  the  12th  to  the  27th,  it  will  be  found 
that,  in  the  interval  of  thefe  fifteen  days,  the  fiiip 
was  carried  to  the  weftward,  beyond  her  apparent 
progrefs,  4°  10'  or  228  miles;  and  to  the  fouth- 
ward;,  1°  X 8'  or  78  miles:  and  on  combining  thefe 

two 


May  1791.]  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  275 


two  quantities,  we  find  that  the  error  of  the  courfe 
was  242  miles  or  8ot  leagues,  to  the  weft  45' 
fouth  3  which  indicates  a  mean  efFeft  of  the  adlion 
of  the  currents  in  that  direélion,  of  about  16  miles 
in  twenty-four  hours. 

It  is  feen,  that  from  the  9th  to  the  27th,  be- 
tween the  parallels  of  30®  and  19°  30'  fouth,  the 
currents  carried  the  Ihip  conftantly  to  the  fouth- 
ward,  at  a  rate  which  varied  from  4  to  16  miles 
in  twenty-four  hours  ;  and  it  will  be  recolleéled 
that,  in  the  South  Atlantic  Ocean,  between 
the  fame  parallels,  we  had  found  the  fame  diredtion 
in  the  currents  and  a  velocity  which  had  varied 
from  10  to  18  miles  a  day. 

It  has  been  feen  (Note  XXII)  that  the  lon- 
gitude by  account  from  the  time  of  the  ftiip  being 
in  fight  of  Staten  Land,  according  to  the  cal- 
culation of  her  run,  had,  on  the  25th  of  April, 
drawn  near  the  longitude  by  obfervation,  and, 
through  the  efitft  of  compenfations,  differed  from 
it  no  more  than  4  minutes  aft  em ,  from  the  25th 
of  April  to  the  9th  of  May  (Note  XX III)  the 
error  of  the  reckoning  had  been  i"^  58'  dhead^  the 
longitude  by  account  was  at  this  latter  period,  f 
ahead \  but  the  error  having  been  8  minutes 
aftern  from  the  9th  to  the  12th  of  May  (Note 

XXIV)  ;  3°  11  y  from  the  12th  to  the  23rd  (Note 

XXV)  y  and  58  minutes,  from  the  23rd  to  the 
27th;  thefe  accumulated  errors  in  the  fame  direc- 
tion, deducing  1°  54'  ahead ,  produce,  on  the  laft 

B  B  4  daVî 


37^  marchand's  voyage.        [June  1791; 

day,  a  total  error  of  2'  24'  ajlern  in  the  longitude 
by  account, 

NOTE  XXVII. 

On  the  6th  of  June,  the  mean  between  the 
tncan  refults  of  four  fets  of  diftances  obferved 
from  the  moon  to  the  fun,  and  two  fets  of  diftances 
from  the  moon  to  Spica  Virginisy  reduced  to  noon 
of  the  fame  day,  gave  for  the  longitude  of  the 
jhip,  at  that  moment,  127®  10':  and  on  comparing 
it  with  that  which  had  been  deduced  from  the 
obfervations  of  the  27th  of  May,  it  is  feen  that 
the  fliip's  progrefs  towards  the  weft,  had  been  10® 
36'.  That  which  was  indicated  by  the  dead  reck- 
oning, for  the  fame  interval,  was  10^  23':  thus 
the  difference  was  only  13  minutes,  or  12.5  miles, 
which  the  fliip  appeared  to  have  been  carried  to 
the  weftward  beyond  the  progrefs  by  account. 

On  examining  the  ftiip's  daily  progrefs  towards 
the  north,  according  to  the  dead  reckoning,  and 
the  progrefs  according  to  the  obfervations,  we  find 
that  the  fum  of  the  former  is  equal  to  the  fum  of 
the  latter:"  the  differences  in  the  one  direction  and 
in  the  other  are  exaâily  counterbalanced. 

We  may  therefore  conclude  that,  from  the  27th 
of  May  to  the  6th  of  June,  the  currents  effeéled 
no  perceptible  change  either  in  the  ftiip's  apparent 
courfe  or  rate  of  failing:  for  the  13  minutes,  or 
12.5  miles,  difference  towards  the  weft,  might  pro- 
ceed 


June  1791.]       marchand's  voyage.  37y 

ceed  from  the  obfervatîons  as  well  as  from  the 
dead  reckoning. 

The  fame  agreement  between  the  refults  of  the 
obfervations  and  the  calculations  of  the  reckoning 
continued  for  the  two  following  days. 

From  the  6th  to  the  7th,  the  ftiip's  progrefs 
towards  the  weft,  according  to  the  obfervations 
was  15' 3  and  2°  14',  according  to  the  dead 
reckoning. 

From  the  7th  to  the  8th,  43'  according  to 
the  obfervations,  and  i'^  52'  according  to  the  dead 
reckoning  :  the  difference  therefore  is  only  9  mi- 
nutes, but  in  a  contrary  direftion  to  thofe  of  the 
preceding  days. 

The  progrefs  in  latitude  deduced  from  obferva* 
tion,  and  compared  with  that  given  by  the  dead 
reckoning  Ihews  that  the  apparent  progrefs  of  the 
fliip,  in  this  diredion,  differed  little  from  her  real 
progrefs  :  from  the  6th  to  the  7th,  the  dead  reck- 
oning gives  3  minutes  lefs  towards  the  fouth  than 
the  obfervation,  and  i  minute  only  from  the  7th 
to  the  8th. 

It  therefore  appears  that,  in  the  interval  of  thcic 
laft  two  days,  the  fhip  experienced  no  cfFeft  from 
the  currents. 

NOTE  XXVIIL 

The  aaion  of  the  currents  was  again  felt  from 
the  8th  to  the  loth* 

I  Eight 


37^  marchand's  voyage.       [June  1791. 

Eight  fets  of  diftances  of  the  fun  and  moon 
obferved  on  the  loth  two  fets  of  diftances  from 
the  moon  to  ReguluSy  and  two  others  from  the 
moon  to  AntareSy  gave,  by  a  mean  between  the 
three  mean  refults,  for  the  longitude  of  the  fhip, 
reduced  to  noon  of  that  fame  day,  135**  52'^  and 
on  comparing  it  with  that  of  the  8th,  we  find  that, 
in  the  interval  of  the  two  days,  the  Ihip's  pro- 
grefs  towards  the  weft  was,  according  to  the  ob- 
fervation,  4**  44'  :  it  is  only  3**  5/,  according  to 
the  dead  reckoning  :  thus,  the  fhip  was  carried  53 
minutes,  or  about  52  miles,  to  the  weft  ward. 

From  the  8th  to  the  loth,  according  to  the 
obfervations  of  latitude,  the  fhip  was  carried  7 
minutes,  or  7  miles  to  the  fouthward:  thus  the 
current  had  caufed  her  to  make  an  imperceptible 
drift  of  52 J  miles  to  the  weft,  7  or  8**  fouth,  or  26^ 
miles  in  twenty-four  hours  in  that  direftion. 

NOTE  XXÎX. 
The  obfervation  of  latitude  of  the  nth  proved 
that,  in  the  twenty-four  hours  which  preceded 
the  noon  of  that  day,  the  adion  of  the  currents 
had  again  carried  the  ftiip  10  minutes  to  the  fouth- 
ward. It  had  been  almoft  conftantly  found  in 
crofTmg  the  Great  Ocean,  that,  when  they  fet 
towards  the  Southy  they  alfo  fet  towards  the  Wejly 
and  in  a  more  confiderable  quantity  :  and  as  our 
navigators,  the  next  day,  expected  to  difcover  the 

I  (lands 


June  1791.]      marchand's  voyage.  ^79 

Iflands  called  Las  Marquesas  de  Mendoça, 
they  judged  it  expedient  to  add  to  the  daily  pro- 
grefs  in  longitude  which  the  dead  reckoning  in- 
dicated towards  the  weft,  from  the  time  cf  the 
obfervations  of  the  loth  till  they  made  the  land, 
the  quantity  of  26  minutes  in  twenty-four  hours, 
in  order  to  compenfate  for  the  effect  of  the  cur- 
rents which  they  fuppofed  muft  drive  the  fhip 
towards  that  fide,  in  the  fame  proportion  as  they 
had  carried  her  thither  on  the  preceding  days  at 
the  fame  time  that  they  carried  her  to  the  fouth- 
ward. 

On  calculating  the  run  according  to  this  fup- 
pofition,  they  expe6led  to  difcover  the  Mendoça 
Iflands  towards  noon  of  the  12th,  and,  in  faâ:, 
at  half  paft  ten  in  the  morning  of  that  day, 
they  began  to  perceive  the  Ifland  of  La  Ma  da- 
LENA,  the  moft  eaftern  and  moft  fouthern  of  the 
group. 

At  noon,  it  bore  fouth-weft^  and  the  Mand  of 
San  Pedro  bore  diredly  weft  at  the  diftance  of 
fourteen  leagues  eftimated  by  the  eye. 

The  longitude  of  this  laft-mentioned  ifland,  . 
determined  by  the  obfervations  made  in  Captain 
Cook's  fécond  voyage*,  is  221*^  9'  eaft  from 
Greenwich,  or  141®  11'  15"  weft  from  Paris. 
If  we  take  from  this  quantity  42  minutes,  which 

*  See  the  Original  Aftronomical  Obfern^atiom  made  In  a 
^voyage  i9<wards  the  South  Fokj  Sec*  Page  ^2$* 

arc 


380  MARCHANDAS  VOYAÔE.         [June  1791.  j 

are  equivalent  to  the  diftance  of  14  leagues  efti- 
mated  at  the  time  of  taking  the  bearing,  we  fhall 
have  140°  29'  15"  for  the  longitude  of  the  fliip 
which  was  exadlly  on  the  parallel  of  the  ifland: 
on  adding  to  the  refult  of  the  obfervations  of 
the  loth  the  progrefs  by  account  towards  the 
weft  fince  that  period,  4""  23'  {f  21',  according 
to  the  dead  reckoning,  plus  52  minutes  for  the 
cffed  of  the  current)  it  will  be  found  that  the 
prefumed  longitude  on  making  the  land  was  only 
140^  15':  the  error  of  this  determination  was 
therefore  i4J  minutes,  which  anfwer  to  no  more 
than  4Î  leagues  ;  but,  according  to  the  calculation 
of  the  fhip's  apparent  courfe  and  diftance,  paying 
no  regard  to  the  forefeen  effedl  of  a  current  towards 
the  weft,  the  progrefs  towards  that  fide  would, 
from  the  jpth  to  the  12th,  have  been  only  3^  31'; 
and  on  adding  it  to  the  longitude  of  the  loth,  it 
would  have  made  only  139^  23':  thus  the  error 
would  have  been     6^15"  or  2ii:  leagues. 

In  regard  to  the  latitude  of  San  Pedro,  the  ob- 
fervations of  Captain  Cook's  voyage  give  for  it 
j^**  59':  and  this  is  exadly  the  fame  as  that  which 
was  obferved  on  board  the  Solide. 

Let  us  fee  what  was  the  error  of  the  dead  reck- 
oning in  the  interval  of  the  laft  two  days. 

On  comparing  the  longitude  obferved  on  the 
loth  with  that  of  the  fliip  at  the  time  of  making 
the  land  on  the  12th,  that  is,  135°  52' with  140'* 
29',  it  is  feen  that  the  real  progrefs  towards  the 

weft 


June  1791.]       MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  381 

weft  was  4*'  37';  but,  according  to  the  dead  reck- 
!  oning,  it  was  only  3°  31':  thus,  in  two  days,  the 
currents  carried  the  fliip  towards  the  weft  i**  6',  or 
65  miles. 

\-  '  The  compound  and  unexperienced  movement 
was  therefore  67.25  miles  to  the  weft  fouth,  and 

;   331  miles  in  twenty-four  hours. 

i      Let  us  examine  at  prefcnt  what  would  have 

I  been  the  error  of  the  dead  reckoning  on  making 

!  the  land  of  the  Mendoça  Iflands,  if,  from  the 
time  of  her  being  in  fight  of  Stat  en  Land,  our 
navigators  had  adhered  to  its  refults,  ançi  had  not 
correfted  them  every  day  that  the  ftate  of  the 
weather  allowed  of  determining  by  obfervation  the 
longitude  of  the  ftiip,  and  of  afcertaining  the  er- 
rors which  the  adlion  of  the  currents,  or  any 
other  caufc,  had  introduced  in  the  diredion  which 

:   flie  appeared  to  have  followed  and  the  diftance 

j  which  Ihe  feemcd  to  have  run« 


Periods 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


>t3  ^  |Tj 

3  3  5  3 
3  3  3  3 

<^  n>  rî  ^ 


O  O  S  5  ^ 

9*  CL  CL 
^  „  n>  o>  a» 
^»  O  oo^  On 

r+    rt  r-r 

ti-  tî-  !3-  tr 


^3?J  ^rj  hrj  "tr^ 

>-t  "-I  i-t  >-t  "-t  "-t  "is 

O  O  O  O  O  O  O 

3  3  3  3  3  3  3 

O)  O)  o  n  n  n 

^  ^  B-  3-  3-  ^  ^ 

o  o  o  o  o  o 


^Tj  ITT^  ItJ 

3  3  3  3 

3  3  3  3 

«-»■    r-f    <-t  r+ 

î3-  tr  !3- 

rB  a>  Q 

O  O 


tr*  tr*  i3-  tr"  !3-  rr  2* 

o    CD  o    fC  C3*- 

Isi    N>    ^»    N>  « 
—    i-t    r-^    r-t-  r^-  rf 

^  y  y      ■rr  !3- 


o 

S  n»  n>  ^4 
N>       .-I  o 

|-^  i-t 
tr  Sr-  cr-  ï:Î> 


0                H*"-"!-.                 w^itJhitJlvitK»  ^i^V^V^V-r,^ 

Latitude 
by 

Obfervation 
South. 

o   1  ^  ^  ^  ^  ^    ' 

^vO       00^  O          -f»-  00-^  ->  0\  <-(  CO  OsOv**OOS*- 

O  r 

•s;    S  0 
?    S  ^  Ë 

4^  Ov»        a>           0\  <-  ON*-a                                Oi   v-a  ^ 

^^^^^      ^^^^^^^  ^ 

Progrefs  in 
Longitude  in 
the  interval  of 
the  Obferva- 
tions  accord^  to 
Observation. 

h-i  to  -t^  <^            oo^  O  ^  04  v-a  O                        H*  ^ 

^^^^4       ^^^^^^^  :^ 

Progrels  in 
Longitude  in 

the  interval  of 
the  Obferva- 

tions  accord^. 

Reckoning. 

i  I  +  I  I 

o  o  o  o 


I  I  I  !  U  + 
o  o  o  o  u»  o  »^ 

Ml    N»    *-i  ^ 

OC  On  ON  OO  N  00  oo 


I   I  4- 

O   N  (4 

»-<  On 


<  TO     i-t    p  O 


o 

cr 
c? 

M 

O  P 

> 
>< 

CO 

c" 

erval 

■  the 

Sum  of  the  errors  towards  the  Eaft. . 

,  8°  41' 

Sum  of  the  errors  towards  the  Weft. . 

.4  15 

Remainder  in  error  towards  the  Eaft  or  afiem 

after  the  compenfation  .«•.,.,....,.....•«.  4  28 

] 


Jane  1791.]      marchand's  voyage*  2B3 

It  ÎS  feen  that  the  fum  of  the  errors  of  the  dead 
reckoning,  towards  the  one  fide  or  towards  the 
other,  in  the  fpace  of  feventy-three  days,  is  12* 
54':  and  although  fome  fortunate  compenfations 
had  taken  place,  the  error  at  the  time  of  making 
the  land  is  ftill  4"*  28',  or  871  leagues  to  the  eaft- 
ward,  that  is,  ajiern  of  the  true  pofition  of  the 
fhip  :  now  it  is  well  known  that  an  error  aflern 
is  always  dangerous,  fince  it  is  pofllble  that  a  navi- 
gator may  fall  in  with  the  land  in  the  night,  while 
he  thinks  himfelf  ftill  at  a  diftance  from  it. 


NOTE  XXX. 

The  obfervations  made  in  Captain  Cook's  fécond 
voyage  have  given  the  following  determinations 
for  the  Ifl^nds  called  Las  Marquesas  de 
Mendoça  : 

Latitude  South.  Long,  weft  fromParis* 

O    é      it  O      I  u 

Hood' s  JJland  9  26  00  ,  ...  141  12  15; 

San  Pedro  or  O-Niteio.  .   958  00  ....  141  1115 

Santa  Chrijiiana  or  JVahi- 
tahoy  at  the  Harbour 

of  La  Madre  de  Bios,,  .  9  55  30  ....  14 1  28  55 
La  Dominica  orO-Hivahoa  9  40  371 ...  141  21  52I 
Madakna   lo  25  30  ....  141  09  1 5 

No  obfervations  were  made  for  determining 
immediately  the  longitude  of  the  harbour  of  La 
Madre  de  Dios  in  the  lOand  of  Santa  Chris- 

^  TINA, 


marchand's  voyage.      [June  1791. 


TINA,  to  which  the  others  are  fubjefted:  but  on 
the  days,  whkh  preceded,  and  on  thofe  which  fol- 
lowed the  Resolution's  arrival  at  this  port,  Mr. 
Wales  had  taken  feveral  obfervations  of  the 
inoon's  diftance  from  the  fun,  and  he  reduced  them 
by  calculation,  and  with  the  help  of  a  chronometer 
to  the  pofition  of  the  harbour  of  La  Mad  re  de 
bios*. 

The  meridian  altitudes  of  the  fun  which  were 
employed  for  determining  the  latitude  of  the  fame 
harbour,  were  taken  on  the  9th  and  loth  of  April 
Î774  from  a  quickfilver  horizon  with  a  Hadley's 
fextant,  and  by  the  back  obfervation  :  they  gave 
for  the  latitude  of  La  Madre  de  Dios,  the  former 
9*  55'  15",  and  the  latter  9°  55'  45"!. 

*  See  The  O^g'inal  Ajironomical  Ohfer'vatlons  made  in  a 
Voyagg  towuards  the  South  Pole,  &c.  Pages  322,  533  and  82. 
The  Longitudes  are  there  reckoned  from  the  Meridian  of  Green» 
nvîch  ;  we  have  reduced  them  to  that  of  Paris,  admitting  this 
city  to  be  fituated  2°  20'  1 5"  to  the  Eafl  ©f  Greenwich, 

f  See  7'he  Original  Afironomical  Obfervations  made  in  a  fvcy-m 
age  toivards  the  South  Pole,  page  8 1 , 


FOURTH 


Jliné  1791.]         MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE, 


FOURTH  RUN, 

Prom  thé  IJlands  tailed  LÂS  MAR^ESÀS  m 
MENDOÇA  to  the  NOMR-WES'T  Coafi  of 
AMERICA. 

Om  the  20th  of  June,  at  eleven  d'clock  at  night, 
the  Solide  took  her  departure  from  the  Harbour 
of  La  Madre  de  Dïos,  in  9"*  55'  30''  fouth  la- 
titude, and  141°  28'  55'' weft  longitude. 

KÔTË  XXlL 

On  the  22d,  in  fight  of  Ile  Marchand  (Mar-- 
tHAND*s  Ifland)  the  longitude  of  the  fhip,  reduced 
to  noon,  was  determined  by  fix  fets  of  diftances 
of  the  moon  from  the  fun  and  two  fets  of  the 
moon  from  «>  of  Aquila  at  142*^  27'  :  thus  the 
progrefs  in  longitude  towards  the  weft,  fince  the 
departure  taken  from  La  Madre  de  Dlos,  had 
been  0^58'. 

That  given  by  the  dead  reckoning  differed  from 
it  only  3  minutes  or  2.96  miles  in  excefs. 

The  latitude  by  account  agreed  with  the  latitude 
by  obfervation. 

It  may  be  concluded  frotn  the  refult  of  thefe 
Comparifons,  that  the  currents  which  had  fet  with 
a  great  velocity  to  the  weft  18*^  30'  fouth,  while 
the  ftiip  was  failing  to  the  eaftward  or  to  windward 

Vai,.  II,  e  c  ©f 


386 


marcHx\nd's  voyage.        [Jiine  1791. 


of  the  Mendcça  Ifiands,  had  not  been  felt  while 
flie  was  {landing  to  the  north- well  or  to  leeward  of 
them. 

NOTE  XXXIL 

Two  fets  of  diftances  of  the  fun  and  moon 
gave  for  the  longitude  of  the  24th  at  noon,  143° 
io\  And  on  comparing  it  with  that  of  the  22nd 
it  is  feen  that,  in  the  fpace  of  two  days,  the  fliip's, 
progrefs  towards  the  weft  was  43'. 

That  which  was  indicated  by  the  dead  reckoning 
was  only  o**  36^  :  thus  it  would  appear  that  in  two 
days,  the  fliip  was  carried  to  the  weftward,  7  mi- 
nutes or  6.9  miles. 

According  to  the  obfervations  of  latitude,  flie 
was  carried,  in  the  fame  fpace  of  time,  6  minutes 
or  6  miles  to  the  fouthward. 

The  efîèét  of  the  currents  had  therefore  been 
5.1  miles  or  4.56  in  twenty-four  hours,  to  the  weft 
4°  fouth. 

NOTE  XXXIII. 

By  the  obfervations  of  the  25th,  the  longitude 
of  the  fhip,  at  noon,  was  143°  49';  and  her  pro- 
grefs towards  the  weft  had  been,  fince  the  24th, 
39  minutes. 

It  was  only  21  minutes,  according  to  the  dead 
reckoning  :  thus,  in  twenty  four  hours,,  the  fliip 
had  been  carried  18  minutes  or  17.8  miles  to 
the  weft  ward  « 

6  The 


July  1791.]        marchand's  voyage.  387 

The  obfervation  of  latitude  fliewed  that,  during 
the  fame  time,  flie  had  been  carried  12  minutes 
or  12  miles  to  the  northward. 

Thus  her  unperceived  movement  had  been 
21.5  miles  to  the  weft  33°  45' north. 

At  this  period  our  navigators  had  loft  fight  of 
the  Iles  de  la  Révolution  (the  Revolution 
Iflands),  and  were  on  a  parallel  more  northerly 
by  about  2|  degrees  than  the  moft  northern  part 
of  the  group. 

NOTE  XXXIV. 

On  the  20th  of  July,  four  fets  of  obfervations 
of  the  moon's  diftance  from  the  fun  gave,  by  a 
mean,  for  the  longitude  of  the  ftiip  reduced  to 
noon,  156°  2':  and  on  comparing  it  with  that  of 
the  25  th  of  June,  we  find  that,  in  the  fpace  of 
twenty-five  days,  the  progrefs  towards  the  weft 
was  12°  ij''. 

According  to  the  dead  reckoning,  the  progrefs 
|i  in  the  fame  interval  had  been  only  10°  27' 5  and 
|J  thence  it  was  concluded  that  the  fhip  was  carried 
1*  46',  or  1 01. 2  miles  to  the  weft  ward. 
.  If  we  compare  on  each  day  the  latitude  de- 
duced fi-om  oblervation  with  that  indicated  by 
the  dead  reckoning,  it  is  feen  that  the  adion  of 
the  currents  carried  the  ftiip  almoft  uninterrupt- 
edly to  the  northward,  except  on  the  laft  four 
days  of  the  period  :  the  ftiip's  imperceptible  pro- 
c  c  2  grefs 


38S  MARCH and's  voyage,        [J^^^Y  ^79 iy, 

grefs  towards  that  fide  was  frequently  lo,  it,  15^ 
and  as  much  as  16  miles  in  twenty-four  hours. 
Their  fum  is  2®  ij'':  and  if  we  thence  deduét  that 
of  fome  accidental  differences  towards  the  fouth^ 
amounting  to  19  minutes  only,  there  remain  i  dcr 
gree  54  minutes,  or  114  miles,  which  the  cur- 
rents had  carried  the  ftiip  to  the  northward. 

On  combining  the  two  movements,  we  find  that, 
in  twenty-five  days,  the  ftiip  made,  by  a  com- 
pound and  unperceived  movement,  152.8  miles  in 
the  diredlion  of  north  41®  43' weft  ^  that  is,  that 
her  mean  drift  in  that  direftion  was  6.1  miles  in 
twenty-four  hours. 

It  appears  therefore,  that,  in  this  latitude,  con- 
trary to  what  we  had  obferved  in  the  South 
Atlantic  Ocean,  and  in  the  Great  Austral 
Ocean,  the  currents  which  fet  to  thf:  Northward^ 
fct  at  the  fame  time  to  the  Weftward, 

It  appears  too,  as  may  be  feen  In  the  Journ^aIt 
OF  THE  Route  5  that  errors  fomewhat  ccmfidera- 
ble  in  the  latitudes  took  place  from  the  parallel 
of  8"^  fouth,  as  far  as  beyond  the  Tropic  of  Can- 
cer, between  142^  30'  and  152®  40' of  weft  lon- 
gitude ;  and  that,  in  crofting  this  part  of  the 
Torrid  Zone,  the  waters,  during  a  month,  con- 
ftantly  fet  to  the  northward  and  weft  ward. 

But  the  quantity  of  the  error  of  the  dead  reck- 
oning in  Loth  diredions,  fuch  as  we  have  before 
determined  it,  does  not  exadlly  indicate  the  quan- 
tity which  the  ftiip  was  carried  to  the  wcftward, 
5  nor 


July  1791.]       marchand's  voyage.  389 

nor  that  which  (he  was  carried  to  the  northward  : 
for  it  appears  by  Captain  Chanaj/s  Journal,  that 
being  aftonillied  at  the  conilant  errors  in  latitude 
which  had  been  difcovered  for  fome  time  paft-, 
and  almofl:  always  on  the  fame  fide,  Captain  Mar- 
chand direded  that  the  half-minute  glafs,  which 
is  employed  in  meafuring  time  while  the  log  is 
meafuring  the  ftiip*s  way,  ihould  be  carefully  ex- 
amined :  on  comparing  it  with  a  watch  v/ith  a 
fécond  hand,  which  was  well  regulated,  it  was 
afcertained  that  the  time  which  the  fand  took  to 
run  out,  was  not  exadlly  thirty  féconds,  as  in  the 
former  part  of  the  voyage,  and  that  it  was  too 
lliort  by  2  or  3  féconds.  It  refulted  from  this 
«rror  of  the  glafs  refpe61:ing  the  meafure  of  time, 
that  the  (hip's  way  eftimated  by  means  of  the  log, 
•was  fhorter  than  the  way  which  fhe  adually  made, 
by  about  a  twelfth  ;  and  that  the  (hip's  courfe 
being  between  the  north  and  the  weft,  her  pro- 
grefs  in  latitude  and  longitude  according  to  the 
dead  reckoning,  ought  to  have  been  fmaller  by 
a  twelfth  than  that  which  would  have  been  found 
if  the  fand-glafs  had  exadlly  indicated  the  duration 
pf  thirty  féconds. 

•  On  applying  to  the  calculations  of  the  dead 
■reckoning  the  correflion  required  by  this  acknow- 
ledged error,  we  fhall  have  frefh  refults. 

According  to  the  obfervations,  the  progrefs  in 
longitude,  in  the  interval  from  the  25th  of  June 
^0  the  20th  of  July,  was  i    1 3'.    The  error  of 

c  c  3  t  h  e 


39®  marchand's  voyage.       [July  179t. 

the  dead  reckoning  in  defe5i  ought  to  have  been 
only  a  twelfth  of  this  quantity,  that  is,  I'^i':  we 
lhall  find  iti°  46^  therefore  there  remain  ftill  45 
minutes  in  defe5ty  which  may  be  attributed  to  the 
a6i:ion  of  the  currents  that  fet  the  fliip  to  the  weft- 
ward. 

If  we  examine  the  error  in  latitude  during  the 
fame  period,  we  fliall  find  that  the  fum  of  the 
partial  errors  (a  compenfation  having  taken  place 
between  thofe  which,  being  in  a  contrary  diredion, 
do  away  each  other)  is  only  i''  54'  towards  the 
fouth  :  but  as  the  fliip*s  real  progrefs  in  latitude 
towards  the  north  is,  according  to  the  obfervations 
of  the  two  extreme  days  of  the  period,  34°  24'; 
the  fum  of  the  daily  errors  of  the  reckoning,  in 
defeEi  or  towards  the  fouth,  ought  to  have  been, 
in  ^proportion  to  the  error  of  the  half-minute 
glafs,  a  twelfth  of  the  real  progrefs,  that  is,  2®  52': 
however,  it  is  but  i*'54',  that^is,  fmaller  by  58 
minutes  than  it  ought  to  have  been  :  this  diminu- 
tion can  proceed  only  from  a  caufe,  which,  ading 
in  a  diredion  contrary  to  the  error  of  the  glafs, 
carried  the  fhip  to  the  northward,  and  it  muft  be 
believed  that  it  is  the  efFeâ;  of  a  current,  which, 
in  the  interval  from  the  25th  of  June  to  the  20th 
of  July,  carried  the  fhip  58  minutes  towards  that 
fide.  It  will  be  feen  that  the  tendency  of  the 
waters  towards  the  north  was  conftant,  from  the 
eighth  parallel  fouth  to  the  land-fall  on  the  north- 
west 


July  1791-]         marchand's  VOYAGE.  391 

WEST  coaft  of  America,  in  the  latitude  of  57* 
15'  north. 

If,  with  thefe  new  data,  45  minutes,  or  43  miles, 
towards  the  weft,  and  58  minutes,  or  58  miles, 
towards  the  north,  which  the  currents  appear  to 
have  driven  thé  (hip  out  of  her  apparent  courfe, 
it  were  wilhed  to  calculate  what  were  the  velocity 
and  diredlion  of  her  unperceived  movement,  it 
would  be  found  that  fhe  made  72.3  miles  to  the 
north  36^  30'  weft;  which  gives  for  the  mean 
drift  in  that  direction  2.9  miles  in  twenty-four 
hours. 

NOTE  XXXV. 

The  mean  rcfult  of  four  fets  of  obfervations 
of  diftances  of  the  fun  and  moon,  gives  for  the 
longitude  of  the  23d  at  noon,  154''  25' s  and  on 
comparing  it  to  that  of  the  20th,  it  is  feen  that 
the  ftiip's  progrefs  was  37'  towards  the  eaft  : 
and,  as  according  to  the  dead  reckoning,  this 
progrefs  appears  to  have  been  40',  it  follows 
that,  in  the  fpace  of  three  days  the  currents  may 
have  carried  the  ftiip  3  minutes,  or  2.6  miles  to 
the  weftward. 

The  comparifon  of  the  progrefs  towards  the 
north,  according  to  the  obfervation  and  accord- 
ing to  the  dead  reckoning,  fhews  that  the  ftiip 
was  carried,  during  the  fame  time,  11  minutes,  or 
II  miles  to  the  northward. 

c  c  4  Thus 


39f^  MARCHAND'S  VOYAGE,  [J^îy  l^S^* 

Thus  the  unperceived  movement  was  11.3  miles 
to  the  north  13®  15'  weft  ;  and  the  mean  drift  in 
that  diredbion  3.76  miles  in  twenty-four  hours. 

The  difference  between  the  progrefs  in  longi- 
tude by  obfervation  and  the  progrefs  by  accounts 
is  too  fmall  fo|-  us  to  jpe  able  thence  to  conclude 
that  the  currents  fet  to  the  weftward  ;  but  the 
pbfervations  of  latitude  afforded  the  certainty  that 
tjiey  continued  to  fet  to  the  northward, 

NOTE  XXXVL 

The  obfefvations  for  the  longitude  and  latitude^ 
made  on  the  24th,  lead  to  a  refult  fimilar  to  tha| 
pf  the  preceding  note. 

The  progrefs  towards  the  eaft^  according  to  the 
dead  reckoning,  differs^  in  the  interval  from  the 
23d  to  the  24th5  from  that  deduced  from  the  ob-< 
fervations,  only  by  2  minutes  in  excefs  ;  that  is, 
that  the  obfervation  carries  the  fhip  2  minutes,  or 
1.67  miles,  to  the  weftward. 

But  the  obfervation  of  latitude  proves  that,  in 
the  fame  fpace  of  time,  ftie  was  carried  21  minutes, 
or  21  miles,  to  the  northward. 

If  we  choofe  to  take  notice  of  1.67  mile^  tQ  the 
weftward,  the  unperceived  movement  in  twenty- 
four  hours  will  have  been  21  miles  in  the  direftion 
pf  north     30'  weft. 


NOTE 


^llguft  17911]       MAilCHAND's  VOYAGE, 

NOTE  xxxvir, 

The  longitude  for  the  26th  at  noon,  deduced 
from  two  fets  of  diftances  of  the  fun  and  moon, 
was  152°  17- and  in  comparing  it  to  that  of  the 
a4th/  we  find  that  the  progrefs  towards  the  eaft 
>vas  I**  15-. 

The  dead  reckoning  gives  for  this  progrefs 
32'.    Thus,  on  comparing  it  to  that  of  the  ob- 
fervation,  the  flijp  had  been  carried  tp  the  weft- 
ward  17  minutes,  or  13.6  miles. 

According  to  the  obfervations  of  latitude  fhç 
was  carried  15  minutes,  or  15  miles  to  the  north- 
ward. 

The  unperceiyed  movement  in  the  interval  of 
two  days,  was  therefore  2o|  miles  to  the  north  42® 
30'  weft  5  and  her  mean  drift  in  twenty-four  hour? 
was  10.12  miles, 

NOTE  XXXVm. 

The  mean  refult  of  four  fets  of  obfervations 
of  diftances  of  the  fun  and  moon,  reduced  to  noon, 
of  the  5  th  of  Auguft,  gave  for  the  longitude  of 
the  ftiip  at  that  period,  143^  46'  ;  and  on  compa- 
ring it  to  that  of  the  26th  of  July,  we  find  that, 
in  the  interval  of  ten  days,  the  progrefs  towards 
the  eaft  had  been  8°  31^: 

According  to  the  dead  reckoning,  it  was  only 
^•27';  the  difference,  i"*  4',  or  43.9  miles,  ex- 

prefles 


394 


MARCHAî^ô's  VOYAGE.       [Auguft  lygi^ 


prefTes  the  quantity  which  the  fhip  appears  to  have 
been  carried  to  the  eaftward  by  the  fetting  of  the 
currents. 

It  is  feen,  on  comparing  on  each  day  the  latitude 
by  account  with  that  by  obfervation,  that,  in  the 
fame  fpace  of  time,  (he  was  carried  54  minutes, 
or  54  miles  to  the  northward. 

It  will  be  found,  by  calculation,  that  the  unper- 
ceived  movement  was  69.25  miles  to  the  north  39* 
eaft  -y  and  that  the  mean  drift  in  that  diredion  was 
about  feven  miles  in  twenty-four  hours. 

NOTE  XXXIX. 

On  the  7th  at  noon,  the  latitude,  according  to 
obfervation,  was  57^20';  and  on  deducing  from 
the  longitude  obferved  on  the  5th  the  eftimated 
progrefs  towards  the  eaft  in  the  interval  of  the  two 
days,  3**  50',  the  longitude  of  the  7th  at  noon  was 
139°  56'.  In  this  pofition,  the  fhip  was  15!  mi- 
nutes more  to  the  northward,  and  f  40'  15''  or  94 
miles  more  to  the  weft  ward  than  Cape  del  En- 
GANo  (Cook's  Cape  Edgecumbe)  which  ought 
to  have  borne  eaft  about  15®  fouth,  at  the  diftance 
of  I  8  or  19  leagues. 

In  this  fuppofition,  Captain  Marchand  ftôod 
on  in  the  diredlion  indicated,  and  at  half  paft  five 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  he  perceived  the  coaft 
of  America. 

At 


Augaft  1791.]       MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


395 


At  fix  o'clock.  Cape  del  Engano  bore  eaft 
1 9**  30'  fouth,  diftant  13  or  1 4  leagues. 

From  noon  till  fix  o'clock,  according  to  the 
traverfe  table*,  the  fiiip  had  advanced  4.89  miles, 
or  4' 53'' towards  the  fouth,  and  15.34  miles  or 
28'  30"  towards  the  eaft. 

On  fubtraéling  thefe  quantities,  the  former  from 
the  latitude,  the  latter  from  the  longitude  of  the 
fhip  at  noon,  we  have  for  her  pofition  at  fix 

o'clock.  Latitude  57®  15^  7"  Longitude  139* 

ii  30". 

Let  us  fee  what  muft  be  her  true  fituation  ac- 
cording to  the  bearing  of  Cape  del  Engano,  taken 
at  the  fame  moment. 

Since  the  Cape  bore  eaft  19**  30'  fouth,  diftant  i  j 
leagues,  the  ftiip  was  13'  13 "more  to  the  northward 
than  the  Cape,  and  i*  10' 48"  more  to  the  weft- 
ward. 

Let  us  apply  thefe  differences  to  the  latitude  of 
the  Cape  57°  4'  30'^,  and  to  its  longitude  138** 
15'  45",  fuch  as  they  were  determined  by  the  ob- 
feryations  made  in  Captain  Cook's  third  voyage  f ,  ^ 

*  TThe  (hip  had  run  ;  eaft  7°  43'  fouth,  3  miles — eaft  17^ 
30'  10  miles— eaft  24®  36' fouth  miles. 

+  The  original  aftronomtcal  ohfewations  made  in  a  'voyage 
to  the  Northern  Pacific  Ocean,  t^c»  page  349.  Latitude  accord- 
ing to  Cook  and  King  57°  3';  according  to  Bajfly  57°  6' — Mean 
57°  4I'.  Longitude  according  to  Cook  and  King,  224°  7';  ac- 
cording to  Bajlj,  224°  2' — Mean  224°  4'  30"  eaft  from  Green^ 
*wichi  or  138°  15 '45"  weft  £xom  Paris, 

we 


mârchand's  voyage.     [Auguft  1791. 

we  fhall  find  that  the  latitude  of  the  jOhip  muft  be 
57®  I  8'o",  and  her  longitude  ijv"*  26'  33". 

In  lieu  of  thefe  quantities,  we  have  found  57® 
Ï  /  7"  for  the  one,  and  139*  27'  30"  for  the  other  : 
the  error  on  making  the  land  was  therefore  : 

In  Latitude,  2'  sf,  or  about  i  league  too  little 
to  the  northward  ; 

In  Longitude  o'  57''',  or  about  one  fixth  of  ^ 
league  too  rnuch  to  the  weftward. 

Let  us  examine,  at  prefent,  what  was  the  error 
of  the  reckoning  in  two  days  and  a  quarter,  frorn 
the  5th  at  noon,  to  the  9th  at  fix  o'clock  in  the 
evening,  the  period  at  which  the  bearings  were 
taken  of  Cape  del  Engano. 

According  to  the  obfervations  of  the  5th  and 
the  bearing  of  the  7th,  the  fhip's  progrefs  in  la^ 
titude  towards  the  north  was  2^  6'  ;  and  according 
to  the  dead  reckoning,  i*^  40' 7"  only*  :  the  differ- 
ence, 25'  S3^'y  25-9  lïiilcs,  is  the  quantity  which 
the  fhip  was  carried  to  the  northward,  by  the 
action  of  the  currents,  in  the  interval  of  two  days 
^nd  a  quarter, 

*  JFrom  noon  on  the  5th  to  noon  on  the  7th,  the  progrefs  by 
account  towards  the  north  had  been  i°  45'  (fmaller  by  23  mû 
nutes  than  the  progrefs  by  obfervation  in  the  fame  interval)  : 
from  noon  to  lix  o'clock  in  the  evening  of  the  9  th,  the  pro- 
grefs by  account  towards  the  fouth  was  4'  53'',  which  muft  be 
deducted  from  the  progrefs  by  account  towards  the  north; 
and  the  remainder,  1°  40'  7",  will  be  the  progrefs  by  account 
towards  the  fame  fide,  from  noon  of  the  5  th  to  fix  o'clock  in  thç 
evening  of  the  7th,  the  period  when  the  bearings  were  taken. 

The 


Auguft  179.1.]       MARCH  AN  d's  VOYAGE.  397 

The  progrefs  in  latitude  towards  the  eaft,  in  the 
fame  fpace  of  time,  was  4**  19' 27";  and  accord- 
ing to  the  dead  reckoning  it  is  4**  18'  30''*:  the 
difference  therefore  is  only  o'  57"  and  may  be  con- 
fidered  as  null. 

Thus  it  is  feen  that,  if,  from  the  5th  to  the 
7th,  the  currents  carried  the  fhip  to  the  northward 
26  miles  in  54  hours,  or  11,5  miles  a  day,  they 
produced  no  materia]  change  on  the  Ihip's  courfe 
in  the  diredion  of  the  longitude. 

As  for  the  longitude  by  account  given,  on 
making  the  land,  by  the  dead  reckoning,  deduced 
from  the  Bay  of  La  Madre  de  Dios,  it  was  138* 
30',  at  noon  on  the  7th,  and  138*  11'  30"  at  the 
moment  of  the  bearing  being  taken  at  fix  o'clock  ; 
and  as  the  true  longitude  at  this  latter  period 
\vas  139°  26' 30",  the  difference  was  only  ,1°  25* 
or  151  leagues  ahead:  I  fay  aheady  with  refped  to 
the  land,  at  which  it  was  intended  to  touch,  and 
which  was  fituated  to  the  eaftward  of  the  fhip  : 
but  this  exadtnefs  is  the  efFeél  of  the  compenfations 
of  partial  errors  in  contrary  direftions,  which  took 
place  in  the  courfe  of  the  run. 

The  following  table  exhibits  the  partial  errors 
of  the  dead  reckoning  in  either  diredion,  at  the 
different  periods  of  the  obfervations  that  were  em- 
ployed for  determining  the  longitude  of  the  fhip. 

From  neon  of  tlie  5th  to  noon  on  the  7th,  $'^50';  and 
s,S'  30^'  from  noon  on  the  7th  to  fix  o'clock  in  the  evening  of 
the  fame  day^ 

It' 


39^  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


I79I. 

June. 

The  20th 
From  the  20th  to  the  2  2d 
From  the  22nd  to  th&24th 

From  the  24th  to  the  25th 
From  the  2cth 

July 

to  the  20th 

From  the  20th  to  the  23d 

From  the  23rd  to  the  24th 

From  the  24th  to  the  26th 

jFrom  the  26th 

Auguft 

to  the  5th 

From  the  5  th  to  the  7  th 

At  fix  o'clock  in  the  evening, 

Periods 

OF  THE 

Observations. 

»  *^ 
cn 

0    00  ^ 

0   

O^i    Ck>     »0           •             c/5  5" 

0  5" 

H         <î        ^  P 

■    '  §■ 

i  • 

?  Sn-^s  : 

'  _0'  „  I» 

„  ^  ^^^^^ 

5Ï      ST  0 
§• 

?  .W      P    .W  W  W  ^                  ^  :^ 

5*    ■  ■  ■                      "  -^A>.<»->.   

0   fa     0  5" 
cr  ^    0;       „  M 

.-(                 l-K  C3 

g-      5-  ?ï  2  ^ 

§  s  s     5  ^  ^ 

s>  W     ti,     trj  w  w                     ^  ^ 

i-  2  i'  "  §  1  ^ 

^  \       I+++I        II  14- 

3      0              M              0000                MO  00 

S                      "-I                   0  _u  « 

W     W      W  W  W          ^  ^       ^  :^ 

Differences  ol 
theProgreisto 
wards  theWef 
J  or  towards  th< 
Eaft  accord^  t( 
theD  RecVoni 
compared  to 
^  theProgrefs 
"  accord^,  to  tht 
Obfervations. 

  i 

0 
cr 

»  — ' 

It 


Auguft  1791.3     MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


399 


It  is  feeri  that,  in  the  courfe  of  this  run,  the 
errors  of  the  reckoning  refpeding  the  longitude 
were  inconfiderable,  either  in  the  one  dire61:ion,  or 
in  the  other,  and  in  part  counterbalanced  each 
other.    The  fum  of  the  errors  a/lern,  relatively  to 
the  weft,  that  is  to  fay,  the  fum  of  the  quantities 
minus  PFeft  and  ^lus  Eaft,  is  2^  33'*  :  that  of  the 
errors  ahead,  or  of  the  quantities  plus^  Weft  and 
minus  Eafty  is  1°  8'  :  and  it  is  remarkable  that  the 
longitude  of  the  point  arrived  at  differing  from 
that  of  the  point  of  departure,  only  about  2  de- 
grees (La  Madre  D£  Digs  in  141*'  29'  weft,  and 
the  point  from  which  the  bearing  was  taken  Cape 
DEL  Engano  in  139*^  26'  33"  weft)  the  fum  of  the 
errors  of  the  reckoning  is  almoft  double  the  differ- 
ence of  the  meridians.    But  if  we  dedu6i;  from 
the  fum  of  the  errors  aftern  that  of  the  errors 
ahead,  there  remains,  after  the  compenfation,  only 
1^'  aftern,  a  quantity  which  becomes  an  error 
ahead  relatively  to  the  land  fituated  to  the  eaftward 
of  the  fhip,  towards  which  ftie  is  direding  her 
courfe. 

The  examination  of  this  run  leads  us  to  make  a 
few  remarks. 

I.  From  the  25th  of  June  to  the  5th  of  Auguft, 
the  progrefTes  fometimcs  towards  the  weft,  fome- 

*  I  take  for  the  Difference  from  the  24th  of  June  to  the  20th 
of  July,  that  of  1°  46',  becaufe  this  is  the  error  (uncorrefted) 
with  which  the  progrefs  in  longitude,  eftimated  in  the  interval 
of  thefe  two  days,  w;^  really  afFefted,  whatever  was  the  caufe 
of  it. 

times 


406  M  ARCH  AN  d's  VOYAGE.      [Augulï  I'^gii 

times  towards  the  eaft,  fuch  as  were  indicated 
by  the  obfervations,  nearly  balance  each  otherj 
and  the  dired  courfe  of  the  Ihip  deviates  little 
from  a  meridian  ;  for,  according  to  the  obférvà- 
tions,  the  longitude  of  the  25th  of  June  was  143"* 
49',  and  that  of  the  5  th  of  Auguft,  i^f  46':  the 
difference  is  therefore  only  3  minutes,  which  the 
fhip  was  lefs  to  the  weftward  the  lafl:  day  of  this 
period  than  the  ôrft» 

2.  From  the  24th  of  June  when  the  Solide 
had  reached  the  latitude  of  8°  fouth>  till  the  7th 
bf  Auguft  when  flie  arrived  at  the  latitude  of 
57°  18'  north,  between  meridians^  the  moft  weftern 
of  which  is  10'  to  the  well,  and  the  moft  eaftern 
2°  34'  to  the  eafti  of  the  142nd  meridian  weft  from 
Paris,  the  currents,  for  forty-four  days,  conftantly 
carried  the  fliip  to  the  northward  beyond  her  ap- 
parent progrefs. 

The  daily  quantity  of  this  movement  varied  ac- 
cording to  the  following  indications  : 

From  8°  fouth  of  the  equator,  the  unperceived 
movement  towards  the  north  was  12— 10— 15—  and 
13  miles  in  twenty-four  hours  : 

From  the  equator  to  12'' north,  10— 5—5— 2— 
II— 6— 6  miles  : 

From  12®  to  14°  30',  little  differences  of  3  and 
4  miles  took  place  in  a  contrary  direction  to  the 
former  : 

From  14^  30'  to  26*^,  the  movement  towards 
the  north  was  6—9—6—3—16—5  miles  per  day: 

Form 


Auguft  1791.]       MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  4OI 

From  26*^  to  28°  40',  no  difference  : 
From  28°  40',  a  difference,  in  a  contrary  direc- 
tion, of  II  miles  : 

From  28°  40' to  32°,  the  daily  movement  to- 
wards the  north,  5  or  6  miles  : 

From  3 2*^ to  34^  21  miles  towards  the  north: 
From  34*^  to  42°  40',  7— 8— 13— 9— 15  miles 
towards  the  north  : 

From  42*  40'  to  43°,  i  mile  in  a  contrary  di- 
redlion  : 

From  43**  to  44^  8  miles  towards  the  north  : 
From  44®  to  55*^  i— 2|.  miles  towards  the  fame 
fide  : 

Laftly,  from  55*  to  57**  15',  on  approaching 
the  coaft,      miles  a  day,  towards  the  north. 

If  we  fum  up  the  daily  and  unperceived  pro- 
grefs  towards  the  north,  which  took  place,  in 
forty-four  days,  between  the  parallel  of  8^  fouth 
and  that  of  57°  north,  in  a  run  of  65*  or  1300 
leagues  in  latitude,  we  ihall  find  that  the  fum  of 
thefe  unperceived  progreifes,  occafioned  by  the 
a6lion  of  the  currents  towards  the  fame  fide  *,  is 
253  miles  or  84!  leagues  j  and  on  taking  a  mean 
term,  5!  miles,  or  near  2  leagues  in  twenty-four 
hours. 

Some  little  differences  obferved  in  the  courfc 
of  this  period  of  forty -four  days,  which  indicate 

*  See  at  the  end  of  the  Notes,  the  TûbU  of  the  Effea  of  the 
CurrentSy  ^th  Run^ 

VOL.  II,  D  D  an 


4(5^  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  [Auguftl/gj, 

an  accidentai  tendency  of  the  waters  towards  the 
SQUthydtfervc  no  confideration  ;  for  it  is  not  proved 
that  the  greater  part  of  thefe  differences  do  not 
belong  to  the  obfervation  of  latitude,  which,  as 
is  well  known,  may  leave  an  uncertainty  of  2  or 
3  minutes  in  its  refult,  when  the  obfervation  is 
made  with  a  ftxtant  :  and  we  ought  not  thence  to 
conclude  that  the  general  tendency  of  the  waters 
carried  them  towards  the  North. 

3.  It  may  be  remarked  too  that,  from  the  22  nd 
of  June  to  the  7th  of  Auguft,  during  forty-fix 
days,  between  the  parallels  of  9®  20'  fouth,  and 
57"*  15'  north,  and  between  the  longitude  of  142'' 
30'  and  139'' 30' weft  (the  extreme  limits  of  the 
progrefs  towards  the  eaft  and  towards  the  weft)., 
the  currents  conftantly  carried  the  ftiip  to  the  weft- 
ward,  except  on  one  occafion  (from  the  26th  of 
July  to  the  5th  of  Auguft,  between  37°  45' and 
55**  15' of  north  latitude,  and  152*  15'  and  143*" 
45 'of  longitude)  when  they  carried  her  to  the  eaft- 
ward,  44  miles  in  ten  days.  The  fum  of  the  quan- 
tities towards  the  weft  amounts  to  144  miles  or 
48  leagues  ;  which  gives  for  the  mean  eftedt  of 
the  currents  towards  that  fide,  a  little  more  than 
3  miles  in  twenty-four  hours. 

If  we  combine  thefe  144  miles  to  the  weft  with 
the  253  to  the  north,  we  find  that  the  compound 
dlreftion  of  the  currents  was  north  29**  40'  weft, 
the  way  made  in  this  direflion  291.5  miles  or  97.2 

leagues. 


AUguft  1791.3       MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE;  403 

leagues,  and  the  mean  drift  6*3  miles  in  twenty- 
four  hours. 

Thus,  a  navigator  who  might  follow  the  track 
of,  Captain  Marchand,  in  the  fame  feafon,  and 
who  fhould  employ  for  direâing  his  courfe  only 
the  ordinary  methods  of  navigation,  might  reckon, 
in  general,  that  the  currents  carried  the  fhip,  by 
an  unperceived  movement,  2/^  leagues  per  day 
in  the  direction  of  north  30"*  weft. 


FIFTH  RUN, 

From  the  NORTU-JVEST  Coaft  of  AMERICA 
to  the  SANDWICH  ISLANDS. 

NOTE  XL. 

On  the  21ft  of  Auguft,  the  Solide  took  her 
departure  from  Tchinkitanay  Bay,  in  latitude 
57**  4  north,  and  longitude  137"^  59'  weft. 

On  the  22nd,  the  Obfervations  of  the  moon's 
diftance  from  the  fun  gave  for  the  longitude  of  the 
Ihip,  reduced  to  noon,  137^  10':  thus  the  progrefs 
towards  the  eaft  had  been  o''  49'. 

The  longitude  according  to  the  dead  reckoning 
was  137°  i6'i  the  difference  of  the  progrefs  by 
account  towards  the  eaft,  compared  to  that  which 
D  b  2  is 


MARCHANDAS   VOYAGE.        [Auguft  179! 


is  deduced  from  obfervation,  is  only  6  minutes 
or  31  miles,  which  the  obfefved  progrefs  is 
greater. 

On  comparing  the  latitudes,  we  find  that  the 
progrefs  towards  the  fouth  is  greater  according 
to  obfervation  than  according  to  the  dead  reck- 
oning, by  3  minutes  or  3  miles. 

Thus,  it  fhould  appear  that  the  currents  fet 
about  4f  miles  to  the  eaft  42°  30'  fouth. 

NOTE  XLI. 

On  the  23rd,  at  three-quarters  paft  five  in  the 
morning,  the  Solide  was  in  fight  and  to  the  weft- 
ward  of  the  northern  part  of  the  weft  coaft  of 
thofe  lands  which  La  Pérouse  difcovered  in  1 786, 
and  which,  fubfequendy  to  his  difcovery,  Captain 
Dixon  has  named  Queen  Charlotte's  Iflands. 

On  pricking  off  the  fliip's  place  on  the  chart 
of  the  Englilh  navigator.  Captain  Marchand 
deduced  from  his  obfervations  of  the  preceding 
day,  that  the  middle  of  the  entrance  of  Cloak 
Bay  is  fituated  in  latitude  54°  10'  north,  and  lon- 
gitude 135**  50'  weft  from  Paris  5  and  this  longi- 
tude differs  by  10  minutes  in  excefs  from  that 
^iffigned  to  it  by  Dixon's  original  chart,  which 
places  the  entrance  in  133®  ao'  weft  from  Green- 
wich. 

But,  according  to  the  obfervations  made  in  the 
voyage  of  La  Pérouse,  we  arc  of  opinion  that 

Captai^i 


Sept.  1791']  MARCHAND's  VOYAGE, 


Captain  Marchandas  longitude  mentioned  in 
Captain  Chanal's  Journal,  ought  to  be  increafed 
8  minutes;  and  on  applying  this  corredion  to 
the  longitude  of  the  point  whence  the  bearing  was 
taken,  which  was,  at  noon,  135*^  53',  we  have  car- 
ried this  longitude,  in  the  Journal  OF  theRoute, 
to  136*"  i'. 

NOTE  XLII. 

On  the  ifl:  of  September,  at  noon,  the  Solipe; 
took  her  departure  from  a  point  from  whence 
bearings  were  taken  of  the  land  in  latitude  52.** 
56'  by  obfervation;  and  Captain  Marchand  had 
fixed  the  longitude  of  this  point  at  135°  io\ 
according  to  the  General  Chart  of  the  NORTH^ 
WEST  COAST  OF  AMERICA,  which  is  prefixed 
to  DIXON'S  VOYAGE. 

But  the  obfervations  made  in  La  Pe  rouse's 
voyage  place  in  135°  5'  the  portion  of  the  coaft 
fituated  in  latitude  52®  56':  and,  as  at  the  moment 
of  taking  the  bearings,  the  Solide  was  5  or  6 
leagues,  or  about  30  minutes  to  the  weflward  of 
the  coaft,  the  longitude  of  the  point  whence  the 
land  was  fet  will  be  135°  35',  that  is,  greater  by 
15  minutes  than  that  affigned  to  it  by  Captain 
Marchand  and  the  Journal  of  Captain  Chanal. 

In  confequence,  I  have  (in  the  Journal  of 
THE  Route)  increafed  by  15  minutes  the  longitude 
of  the  point  whence  the  bearings  of  the  ift  of 

D  D  3  September 


'  MARCHAND-S  VOYAGE.  [S,ept.  1791. 

September  were  taken;  and  the  longitudes  by 
account  of  the  2nd^  3r(},  and  4th. 

NOTE  XLIIL 

On  the  4th,  the  longitude  deduped  from  the 
obfervations  of  the  moon's  diftance  from  thç  fun, 
and  reduced  to  noon,  was  130*  40';  and  on  com- 
paring it  with  that  of  the  ift  corre6led,  as  in  the 
preceding  Note,  we  find  that  the  progrefs  towards 
the  eafi:  was  4*^  5  5 

That  which  was  deduced  from  the  dead  reck- 
oning compared  to  the  fame  longitude  is  only 
4*  36-:  the  difference  in  three  days  is  therefore 
19  minutes,  or  about  12  miles,  which  the  Ihip 
appears  to  have  been  carried  to  the  eaftward. 

In  the  fame  interval,  the  progrefs  towards  the 
fouth  was  greater  according  to  the  obfervation 
than  according  to  the  dead  reckoning,  from  thé, 
I  ft  to  the  3rd,  II  minutes  ;  but  from  the  3rd  to  the 
,4th,  it  was  fmaller  by  4  minutes:  thus  from  the  ift 
to  the  4th,  the  currents,  from  a  compenfation 
having  taken  place,  fet  7  minutes,  or  7  miles,  to 
the  fouth  ward. 

It  might  be  concluded  that  the  ihip  was  carried 
about  14  miles,  in  three  days,  at  4i  miles  in 
twenty-four  hours,  to  the  eaft  30°  30'  fouth. 


NOTE 


Sept.  1791.]  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE» 


NOTE  ?CLIV. 

On  the  8th,  before  he  loft  fight  of  the  coaft  of 
America,  Captain  Marcha î^d  took  a  bearing 
off  Berkley  Soui>d. 

At  half  paft  fix  o'clock  in  the  evening,  the 
entrance  of  this  bay  bore  north-eaft  half  caft 
diftant  fix  leagues  :  and,  on  fetting  off  the  bear- 
ing on  Dixon's  Chart,  where  Berkley  Soynd  is 
placed  in  latitude  48*^  57'  north,  and  longitude 
128*  28'  weft  from  Paris,  it  was  concluded  that 
the  point  whence  the  bearings  was  taken,  which 
wsLS  made  the  Point  of  departure,  was  fituatcd  in 

Latitude  48^  46'  North. 
Longitude  1 28'%8' Weft, 

NOTE  XLV. 

The  refult  of  the  lunar  obfervations  of  the  1 9th 
in  the  morning,  reduced  to  noon,  placed  the  (hip 
in  longitude  139*  3'  ;  and,  on  comparing  it  to  that 
of  the  point  of  departure  (preceding  Note),  \% 
will  be  feen  th^t  the  progrefs  toward?  the  weft 
was  10°  15  V 

According  to  the  dead  reckoning,  it  appears  to 
have  been  1 2®  3'. 

Thus  in  the  Ipace  of  eleven  days,  the  Ihip  was 
carried  ajiern  or  to  the  eaftward,  by  the  aftion  of 
the  currents,  1®  48',  or  83,6  miles. 

P  D  4  She 


408  MARCHAND*S  VOYAGE.  [Sept.  179I. 

She  was  carried  to  the  fouthward  a  ftill  more 
confiderable  quantity:  the  daily  differences  between 
the  latitude  by  account  and  the  latitude  by  obfer- 
vation,  were  2,  4,  8,  9,  15,  16,  and  17  minutes; 
and  the  fum  of  thefe  différences  is  2*  6',  or  126 
miles,  which  the  fliip  was  carried  towards  the  fouth 
in  the  interval  of  eleven  days. 

On  combining  thefe  quantities  towards  the  fouth 
with  the  quantities  towards  the  eaft,  we  find  that 
the  currents  carried  the  fliip  by  an  unperceived 
movement,  151. 5  miles  in  eleven  days,  or  13.77 
miles  in  twenty-four  hours,  to  the  fouth  33*  15' 

NOTE  XLVL 

The  progrefs  towards  the  weft,  according  to  the 
compared  refults  of  the  obfervations  of  the  19th 
and  2ift,  was  2®  30';  and  as,  according  to  the 
dead  reckoning,  it  is  only  i""  17',  it  may  thence  be 
concluded  that,  in  the  interval  of  two  days,  the 
tinperceived  progrefs  towards  the  weft  was  13 
miiiutes  or  11.2  miles. 

The  unperceived  progrefs  towards  the  foutli 
was,  in  the  fame  fpace  of  time,  8  minutes  or 
8  miles. 

And,  on  combining  the  two  movements,  we 
find  that  the  ftiip  was  carried  13.8  miles  in  two 
days,  or  6.9  miles  a  day,  to  the  weft  35°  30' 
fouth, 

NOTE 


Sept.  1791.]  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  4^5 

NOTE  xmii. 

From  the  aift  to  the  23rd,  the  progrefs  to- 
wards the  weft  was,  according  to  the  obfervations, 
û°  14',  and  2^  8',  according  to  the  dead  reckoning; 
the  difference  is  6  minutes  or  5.22  miles,  which 
the  fliip  appears  to  have  been  carried  to  the  weft- 
ward  in  two  days,  or  2.6  miles  in  twenty-four 
hours. 

The  difference  between  the  latitudes  by  obfer- 
vation  and  by  account  have  compenfated  for  each 
other,  and  were  only  2  minutes  in  the  one  direc-» 
tion,  and  as  much  in  the  other. 

NOTE  XLVIIL, 

According  to  the  compared  refults  of  the  lunar 
obfervations  of  the  23rd  and  30th,  the  progrefs 
in  longitude  towards  the  weft,  in  the  interval  o{ 
feven  days,  was  5^  40'  j  and  the  progrefs  accord- 
ing to  the  dead  reckoning,  was, 6"^  o'.  It  follows 
that  the  fliip  was  carried  to  the  eaftward,  20  mi- 
nutes, or  18  miles. 

The  differences  of  the  latitudes  by  account, 
compared  to  the  latitudes  by  obfervation,  coun- 
terbalanced each  other  within  3  minutes,  or  3 
miles,  which  the  ftiip  appears  to  have  been  carried 
to  the  fouthward. 

On  combining  the  two  unperceived  movements, 
towards  the  caft  and  towards  the  fouth,  it  will  be 

found 


41  o  aîarchand's  voYAGEë        [0£l.  1791. 

found  that  the  lîiip  was  carried  18.3  miles  in  feven 
days,  or  2 1  miles^  in  twçnty-four  hours,  to  the  eaft 
10°  fouth, 

NOTE  XLIX. 

Frefli  obfcrvations  for  the  longitude  made  on  the 
firft  of  06lober  gave  for  the  progrefs  towards  the 
weft,  in  twenty-four  hours,  1°  and  the  dead 
reckoning  diifered  from  it  only  i  minute  or  0.93 
miles,  in  exccfs,  which  it  might  be  imagined  that 
the  fhip  had  been  carried  to  the  eaftward,  if  the 
refults  of  the  lunar  obfcrvations  to  vyhich  are  com- 
pared thofe  of  the  dead  reckoning,  could  attain 
that  prccifion. 

The  obfervation  of  latitude  proved  that,  in  the 
fame  fpace  of  time,  the  {hip  had  been  carried  to 
the  fouthward  5  minutes  or  5  miles,  beyond  her 
apparent  run. 

She  was  therefore  carried  5.1  miles  to  the  fouth 
lo^^eaft. 

NOTE  L. 

By  the  lunar  obfervations  which  were  made  on 
the  3rd,  the  day  before  the  Solide  got  fight  of 
the  Sandwich  Iflands^,  it  was  concluded  that  the 
Ihip  had  reached  the  longitude  of  155^  7';  and 
her  progrefs  towards  the  weft,  from  the  firft  of 
Xht  month,  had  been  4°  8',  greater  by  8  minutes, 
6  or 


Où.  179*]      marchand's  VOYAGE*  '  411 

or  7.53  miles  than  that  indicated  by  the  dead 
reckoning. 

The  progrcfs  towards  the  fouth,  in  the  laft  two 
days,  was  greater  according  to  the  obfcrvarions, 
than  according  to  the  refult  of  the  dead  reckoning, 
by  3  minutes,  or  3  miles, 

Thus  the  compound  and  imperceptible  move- 
ment had  been  8.i  miles,  in  two  days,  or  4  miles, 
in  twenty-four  hours,  to  the  weft  21°  45'  fouth, 

NOTE  LL 

On  the  4th  at  four  c/clock  in  the  afternoon,  the 
Solide  was  exa6tly  under  the  meridian  of  the  moft 
caftern  point  of  the  Ifland  of  O-Whyhee,  which 
]the  obfervations  made  in  Captain  Cook's  third 
voyage*  have  fixed  at  157°  10'  15"  weft  from 
Paris;  and  the  longitude  of  the  fhip,  at  that 
period,  ought  to  have  been  the  fame  as  that  of 
this  point. 

On  the  3rd  at  noon  (preceding  Note),  the  lon- 
gitude of  the  (hip  deduced  from  obfervation,  was 
155°  7'.  From  the  3rd  to  the  4th  at  noon,  the 
dead  reckoning  indicated  a  progrefs  towards  the 
weft  of  I**  37'j  and,  froni  noon  to  four  o'clock 
in  the  evening  of  the  latte;-  day,  a  progrefs  of  17 

*  See  The  Original  AJÎronomteaJ  Ohfewattons  made  In  a  'voy- 
age to  the  Northern  Facile  Ocean ^  &c.  by  W.  B^yley,  page 
350,  The  longitude  of  this  point  is  there  laid  down  zcf  10' 
weft  from  GreenrMîçhf 

minute^ 


4t«  MARCHAN D*S  VOYAGE.  [0£l.  1791, 

minutes  towards  the  fame  fide*  :  thus  the  longi- 
tude deduced  from  obfervation  of  the  3rd  and 
increafed  by  the  progrefs  by  account  towards  the 
weft,  in  the  interval  of  28  hours,  was  on  the  4th 
at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  157^  i'. 

It  was  therefore  fm aller  than  the  true  longitude 
of  the  point  at  which  fhe  was  arrived,  and  9? 
ininutes  aftern  ;  and  the  error  was  8i  miles.  But 
it  will  be  feen  hereafter  that  this  trifling  error  of 
91  minutes  belongs  to  the  dead  reckoning,  which, 
in  the  interval  from  noon  to  three  or  four  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon  of  the  4th,  indicates  a  progrefs 
towards  the  weft  too  fmall  by  this  quantity  :  and 
if,  in  thefe  twenty-eight  hours,  the  real  progrefs 
of  the  fhip  had  been  the  fame  as  her  apparent  pro- 
grefs, the  longitude  on  making  the  land  would  have 
been  precifely  the  lame  as  that  of  the  eaft  point 
of  O-Whyhee,  on  the  meridian  of  which  the  Ihip 
was  placed. 

In  order  to  afcertain  the  error  which  occurred 
in  the  reckoning,  in  the  interval  from  noon  to 
three  or  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  it  will  be 
©bferved  that  the  longitude  by  account  of  the 
4th  at  noon  (Journal  of  the  Route)  was  158^ 
26',  to  which  muft  be  added  the  progrefs  by 
account  towards  the  weft,  from  noon  to  four  o'clock 

'  *  From  noon  to  four  clock,  the  fliip  fleered  weft  14°  30' 
fouih— -weft  37*^  fouth—weft  31°, 30'  fouth— w.eft  19®  I5^{buth  ; 
and  ftie  ran  4-^  miles  on  each  of  thefe  courfes. 

in 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


in  the  afternoon  of  the  4th  which  is  17  miles  to- 
wards the  weft  and  we  fhall  have,  for  the  lon- 
gitude by  account  at  this  latter  moment  i5S°43'. 
On  comparing  this  longitude  to  the  longitude  by 
account  of  the  3rd,  we  find  that,  according  to 
the  dead  reckoning,  the  progrefs  towards  the  weft, 
in  the  interval  from  noon  to  three  or  four  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon  of  the  4th,  is  54'. 

But  if  we  compare  the  true  longitude  of  the 
4th  at  four  o'clock,  157*  10'  15'^  to  the  longitude 
deduced  from  the  obfervation  of  the  3rd  at  noon, 
155®  Y  y  ^^^^  ^^^^  ^^^^  progrefs  was  2^  3  ' 
15'':  thus  the  error  of  the  dead  reckoning  was,  in 
twenty-eight  hours,  minutes  or  8.66  miles, 
which  it  appears  that  the  currents  fee  the  fliip  to 
the  weftward. 

At  the  fame  time,  they  carried  her,  according 
to  the  obfervations,  4  minutes,  or  4  miles  to  the 
northward:  thus  the  unperceived  movement  of 
the  û}ip  was  9.6  in  twenty-eight  hours,  or  8.2 
miles,  in  the  diredion  of  weft  24^  45'  north. 

If,  at  prefent,  we  wifti  to  find  what  was,  on 
making  the  land,  the  error  of  the  longitude  by 
account  deduced  by  the  dead  reckoning,  during 
the  paflage,  from  the  longitude  of  the  8th  of  Sep- 
tember in  fight  of  Berkley  Sound,  we  muft  add 
1°  54'  (progrefs  by  account  towards  the  weft, 
from  noon  to  three  or  four  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon of  the  4th)  to  156^  49'  (longitude  by  ac- 
count of  the  3rd  at  noon  ;  and  we  fliall  have  158"^ 

I  43' 


414  marchand's  voyagé.       [Où.  1791» 

43  for  that  of  the  4th  :  it  is  greater  ttian  the  true 
longitude,  by  3  45",  or  87^  miles  or  29.2 
leagues  ahead. 

It  would  have  been  greater  by  36!  minutes,  if 
no  compenfation  had  taken  place  :  it  will  be  feeit 
by  the  following  table,  that  from  the  8th  of  Sep- 
tember tQ  the  4th  of  06lober,  the  fum  of  the 
errors  plus  weft  was  2°  9'j  but  that  of  the  errors 
minus  wcfi  being  36!  minutes,  there  remained,  de- 
ducing the  latter,  only     32'  45"  for  the  former. 


0£l.  i79i«]       marchand's  voyage. 


It  may  be  remarked,  in  the  run  from  the 
NORTH-WEST  coaft  of  AMERICA  to  the  Sandwi'ch 
Iflands,  that,  when  the  Solide  was  (landing  to 
the  northward,  from  the  19th  to  the  57th  parallel 
(between  the  13th  of  July  and  7th  of  Auguft), 
the  currents  conftantly  fet  to  the  northward,  2|, 
31,  2Ï,  71,  5-1,  and  iif  a  day:  and  that,  on  the 
contrary,  in  running  from  the  57th  to  the  i^th 
parallel  (betv/een  the  21ft  of  Auguft  and  the  4th 
of  October,)  they  fet  tô  the  fouthward,  3,  2|,  ii|, 
4,  5,  and  I  miles  a  day*. 

In  the  former  period,  the  Solide  had  failed  be- 
tween the  150th  and  140th  meridian  welt  from 
Paris  ;  and  in  the  latter,  llie  had  failed  between 
the  140th  and  157  th. 

It  does  not  appear  to  me,  therefore,  that  it  is  to 
the  difference  of  meridians,  which  is  not  very  con- 
fiderable,  that  we  ought  to  attribute  the  change 
in  the  diredlion  of  the  currents;  it  would  appear 
rather  to  depend  on  the  difference  of  the  feafons. 

It  will  be  for  navigators  who  fhall,  in  the  fequel, 
fail  in  thefe  latitudes,  at  the  fame  periods  when 
the  Solide  croiTed  therq,  to  afcertain  whether  the 

*  In  the  laft  twenty-four  hours  only,  they  fet  4  miles  to 
the  northward  ;  but  the  {h'p  was  then  at  no  great  diftance  from 
the  a  rchipelago  of  the  Sandwich  I  Hands  ;  and  it  is  well  known 
that  the  channels  which  feparate  iflands,  occafion  currents  that 
vary  according  to  the  tides,  according  to  the  wind  which  has 
blown,  and  whofe  efFeél  is  frequently  felt  at  rather  confiderable 
diftances  from  the  lands  between  which  they  have  begun  to 
form, 

diredion 


4l6  MARCHANû's  VOYAGE*  [061.  I791. 

direction  and  the  velocity  of  the  currents  will 
again  prove  the  fame  as  thofe  which  we  have 
thought  ourfelves  juftified  in  deducing  from  the 
obfcrvations  for  the  latitude  and  longitude  made 
by  Captains  Marchand  and  Chanal,  in  (landing 
up  and  running  down,  between  the  two  extreme 
parallels,  which,  in  the  latter  period,  limit  the 
courfe  of  the  Solide. 


SIXTH  RUN 


From  the  SANDWICH  IJlands  to  the  MART- 
ANNE  IJlands  and  to  MACAO. 

NOTE  LIL 

On  the  7th,  at  fix  o*clock  in  the  evening,  a 
laft  bearing  was  taken  of  the  Illand  of  0-Whyhe£, 
in  order  to  fix  the  point  of  departure,  at  that 
moment,  the  two  extremities  in  fight  bore  from 
north  5*^  eafl:  to  eaft-fouth-eafl:  1^  30'  eafl:;  and 
the  Ihip  was  at  the  diftance  of  two  leagues  from 
the  nearefl:  fliore.  From  thefe  bearings  was  fixed 
the 

P  *  t  of  D      t  el  •  •  •  ^9°  ^'  North. 

^         (Longitude..  158  2^  Weft. 


NOTE 


Oft.  1791']        MARCH and's  voyage. 


4t; 


NOTE  LIII. 

The  refult  of  two  fets  of  diftances  of  the  fun 
and  moon,  obferved  on  the  19th  at  forty-two 
minutes  after  nine  in  the  mornings  gave  for  the 
longitude  of  that  day  at  noon  178°  48'  weft  from 
Paris;  and  on  comparing  it  to  that  of  the  point 
of  departure,  we  have  for  the  fliip's  progrefs  to- 
wards the  weft  in  the  interval  of  ii|  days,  20°  19'. 

The  progrefs,  according  to  the  dead  reckoning, 
was  only  18^  54^:  thus  the  currents  had  driven 
the  ftiip  to  the  weftward  1^  25',  or  81J  miles. 

In  the  fame  fpace  of  time,  except  the  2nd,  jrd» 
and  4th  day  of  the  period,  the  currents  had  con- 
ftantly  carried  the  ftiip  to  the  fouthward,  and  this 
movement  had  been  fometimes  10,  11,  and  15 
miles  in  twenty-four  hours  5  but  from  the  8th  to 
the  9tK  of  the  month,  the  unperceived  movement 
had  been  10  miles  towards  the  north,  and,  from 
the  9th  to  the  loth,  it  was  29  miles  towards  the 
fame  fide  :  in  thefe  two  days  the  fhip  had  failed 
between  the  latitude  of  19^  30'  and  20^  north,  and 
between  the  longitude  of  159°  40'  and  160^^40' 
weft. 

On  dedudling  the  fum  of  the  unperceived  move- 
ment towards  the  north,  from  the  fum  of  the 
movement  towards  the  fouth,  we  find  as  the  re* 
fult,  that  the  ftiip,  in  the  courfe  of  the  period, 
had  been  carried,  12  minutes,  or  12  miles  to  the 
fouthward, 

VOL.  ru  E  Ê  And 


4i8  marchand's  VOYAGE.       [061.  1791. 

And  on  combining  the  movement  towards  the 
fouth,  with  that  which  the  obfervations  for  the 
longitude  indicated  towards  the  weft,  it  will  be 
feen  that  the  fhip  was  carried  82.5  miles  in  iif 
days,  or  about  7  miles  in  twenty-four  hours  to  the 
weft  8°  20'  fouth. 

NOTE  LIV. 

The  refult  of  the  lunar  obfervations,  made  on 
die  20th,  confirmed  that  of  the  obfervations  of  Î 
the  19th. 

The  progrefs  towards  the  weft  in  the  twenty- 
four  hours  iiad  been  1°  31'  according  to  the  obfer- 
vations, and  1°  25'  according  to  the  dead  reck- 
oning ;  the  difference  of  6  minutes  or  5.8  miles, 
in  defed",  on  the  fide  of  the  reckoning,  would 
indicate  that  the  currents  may  have  carried  the 
Ihip  to  the  weft  ward  that  quantity  ;  at  the  fame 
time  that  the  obfervation  of  latitude  announces 
that  they  effeded  no  change  in  the  fliip^s  courfc 
in  the  direction  of  the  latitude. 

NOTE  LV. 

The  progrefs  to  the  weftward,  from  the  20th 
to  the  23rd,  was,  according  to  the  obfervations, 
7"  8',  while,  according  to  the  dead  reckoning,  it 
ought  to  have  been  only  5°  54^  :  the  currents  there- 
fore drove  the  fhip,  in  three  days,  74  minutes,  or 

72 


Nov.  1791.]       marchand's  voyage. 


72  miles,  to  the  weft  ward  :  this  is  at  the  rate 
of  I  mile  an  hour,  or  8  leagues  a  day. 

The  effe6l  of  the  currents  was  nearly  null  in 
the  diredion  of  the  latitude:  2  minutes  to  the 
fouthward,  the  firft  day  ;  2  miputes  to  the  north- 
ward, the  fécond  ;  no  difference,  the  third  :  thus> 
the  little  effedt  of  the  currents,  if  this  effed  be 
real  and  belong  not  to  fome  fmall  errors  in  the 
obfervations,  was  counterbalanced  and  done  away 
in  the  courfe  of  the  period. 

NOTE  LVL 

The  currents  continued  to  fet  to  the  weftward 
from  the  23rd  of  Oftober  to  the  2nd  of  No- 
vember. 

On  comparing  the  refult  of  the  obfervations  for 
the  longitude  of  the  latter  day,  with  that  of  the 
obfervations  of  the  former  (172°  33'  with  148°  14') 
it  is  feen  that,  in  the  interval  of  ten  days,  the 
progrefs  by  obfcrvation  towards  the  weft,  24*^  19', 
exceeded  by  i"*  39,  or  97  miles,  the  progrefs  by 
account  v/hich  was  only  22°  40'. 

The  efFed  of  the  currents,  fometimes  towards 
the  north,  fometimes  towards  the  fouth,  was  in- 
confiderable,  and,  after  having  fubtraded  the  one 
from  the  other,  is  reduced  to  3  minutes,  or  3  miles 
towards  the  north. 

The  compound  effed  is  97  miles  in  ten  days, 
or  9.7  miles  in  twenty-four  hours,  to  the  weft  i"" 
40'  north, 

NOTE 


420 


MARCHANDAS  .VOYAGE.  [NoV.  179I, 


NOTE  LVII. 

Two  fets  of  diftances  obferved  on  the  2nd,  at 
tvventy-feven  minutes  after  two  in  the  afternoon, 
and  reduced  to  noon,  had  given  148°  14'  for  the 
longitude  (preceding  Note.) 

Two  other  fets  obferved  on  the  4th,  at  one  mi- 
nute after  five  in  the  evening,  gave  for  the  longi- 
tude at  noon  of  that  day,  144°  34'. 

On  comparing  this  latter  longitude  with  the 
former,  it  will  be  found  that,  according  to  the 
obfervations,  the  fhip's  progrefs  towards  the  weft 
in  two  days,  would  have  been  only  3^  40'. 

But,  according  to  the  dead  reckoning,  the  pro- 
grefs towards  that  fide  is  4°  23' j  which  would 
imply  that,  in  48  hours,  the  fhip  had  been  carried 
to  the  eaftward^  43  minutes,  or  41.6  miles,  that 
is,  about  feven  leagues  a  day.  This  extraordinary 
efFed  of  the  movement  of  the  waters  which,  be- 
tween the  tropics,  conftantly  fet  to  the  weftward, 
unlefs  the  vicinity  of  fome  great  land  or  of  an 
archipelago  occafion  a  change  in  their  diredlion, 
fuggefted  the  idea  that  there  might  be  an  error  in 
the  obfervations  of  the  2nd  or  in  thofe  of  the  4th  -, 
and  our  navigators  determined  to  take  a  mean 
between  the  refults  combined  with  the  progrefs 
which  had  been  deduced  from  the  calculation  of 
the  fhip's  run. 

According  to  this  calculation,  the  progrefs  to- 
wards the  weft,  from  the  2nd  to  the  4th,  was  4° 

23 


Nov.  1791.]  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


411 


23'  :  on  dedu6i:ing  this  quantity  from  the  longi- 
tude by  obfervation  on  the  2nd  and  reduced  tO' 
noon  of  that  day,  there  remains  for  that  of  the  4th 
at  noon,  143^  51'.  Now,  if  we  take  a  mean  be- 
tween this  longitude  and  that  which  the  obferva- 
tions  gave  for  the  fame  period,  we  fhall  have  144^ 
12'  30'',  a  longitude  which  partakes  both  of  the 
obfervations  of  the  2nd  and  4th,  and  of  the  pro- 
grefs  by  account  in  the  interval  of  thcfe  two 
periods. 

From  noon  to  three  quarters  paft  five  o'clock 
in  the  evening  of  the  4th,  the  progrefs  by  account 
towards  the  weft  was  35  minutes  :  and  on  fubje6ling 
it  to  the  longitude  obferved  and  correded  of  the 
fame  day  at  noon,  which  was  144°  13' ^  we  have 
for  the  longitude  of  the  Ihip  at  three  quarters 
paft  five  o'clock,  143°  38'. 

At  the  fame  moment,  the  Ifland  of  Tinian 
(of  the  archipelago  of  the  Mary-Anne  Illes)  bore 
from  weft  fouth-weft  half  weft  to  north-weft  by 
weft,  diftant  two  leagues. 

The  ifland  was  therefore  about  5  minutes  to  the 
weftward  of  the  fl:iip  ;  and  on  deduâiing  this  quan- 
tity from  the  longitude  at  three  quarters  paft  five, 
we  ftiall  have  for  that  of  Tinian,  143°  33'. 

Obfervations  made,  in  1767,  by  Captain  Wal- 
LIS,  on  board  the  Dolphin,  give  for  the  lon- 
gitude of  this  ifland  143°  34*45"*:  the  difference 

between 


See  Aftronomtcal  Oh/er'vations  ?nade  i?i  the  Voja^es  for  mahilfj^ 
E  E  3  Di/cçvenes 


422 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  [NoV.  I79I. 


between  the  one  determination  and  the  other 
is  therefore  only  3  minutes. 
N  If  we  wiflied  to  take  the  mean  longitude  ob- 
ferved  of  the  4th  at  noon,  144°  13',  for  the  term 
of  comparifon,  and  we  compare  to  it  the  longi- 
tude obferved  of  the  2nd  at  noon,  it  will  be  found 
that,  in  forty-eight  hours,  the  progrefs  towards 
the  weft  was  4"^  i'  :  but  the  progrefs  by  account  is 
4°  23'  :  thus  the  fhip  appears  to  have  been  carried 
to  the  eaftward  by  an  unperceived  movement  or 
has  advanced  lefs  to  the  weft  ward  than  her  ap- 
parent progrefs  indicated,  22  minutes,  or  21 J 
miles. 

In  the  fame  fpace  of  time,  ftie  was  carried  7 
minutes  to  the  northward,  from  the  2nd  to  the 
3rd,  and  3  minutes  to  the  fouthward,  from  the 
3rd  to  the  4th  :  there  remains  a  movement  to 
the  northward  of  4  minutes,  or  4  miles. 

On  combining  the  efFed  of  the  aétion  of  the 
current,  we  find  that  there  was  an  unperceived 
movement  of  2if  miles  in  forty- eight  hours,  or 
ÎO.87  miles,  a  day,  to  the  eaft  11®  north. 


D'ifco'veries  in  the  fouthern  Hemifphere^  by  W.  Wales,  London, 
Ï788.  4to.  IntroduSilofi,  page  x.  Mr.  JVa!es  gives  for  the 
longitude  of  Tinian  214°  4'  weft  from  Greennvich,  143°  55I' 
weft  from  Paris* 


NOTE 


Nov.  1791 MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


NOTE  LVIII. 

The  longitude  deduced  from  the  obfervations 
of  the  i6th  and  reduced  to  noon,  is  122^  6'; 

'  and  on  comparing  it  to  the  longitude  obferved 
and  corrected  of  the  4th  at  noon,  it  is  feen  that 
the  progrcfs  towards  the  weft  was  22°  7'. 

It  was  only  19°  54',  according  to  the  dead  reck- 
oning; and  the  difference  2^13',  or  126?  miles, 
is  the  quantity  which  the  Ihip  was  carried  to  the 
weftward  by  an  excefs  of  the  real  progrefs  beyond 
the  apparent. 

In  the  period  of  twelve  days,  the  effed  of  the 
currents  on  the  latitude  prefents  variations  fome- 
what  confiderable  :  from  the  4th  to  the  8th,  they 
carried  the  fhip  to  the  northward  17,  4,  5,  and 
16  minutes  in  twenty-four  hours  ;  from  the  8th 
to  the  loth,  9  and  5  minutes  to  the  fou th ward  ; 

-from  the  loth  to  the  12th,  7  and  2  minutes  to  the 
northward;  from  the  13th  to  the  14th,  8  minutes 
to  the  fouthwardj  from  the  14th  to  the  15th,  8 
minutes  to  the  northward;  laftly  from  the  15th 
to  the  i6thj  16  minutes  to  the  fouthward.  After 
having  fubtraded  the  fum  of  the  errors  on  the 
one  fide,  from  that  of  the  errors  on  the  other, 
there  remain  21  minutes,  or  21  miles  to  the 
northward. 

Thefe  21  miles  combined  with  the  i26j  miles 
towards  the  weft,  produce  a  compound  and  un- 

E  E  4  perceived 


434 


MAltCHANt)*S  VOYAGE.         [Nov.  I791. 


perceived  movement  of  128  miles  in  twelve  days, 
or  loi  miles  in  twenty-four  hours,  to  the  weft  9* 
30'  north, 

NOTE  LIX. 

On  the  iSth  at  noon,  the  fouth-weft  point  of 
the  Ifland  of  Formosa  bore  eafl-north-eaft  half 
north,  diftant  four  leagues  and  a  half.  The  fhip 
was  therefore  lefs  to  the  northward  than  this  point 
by  6'  l",  and  lefs  to  the  eaftward,  by  12'  21". 

The  latitude  of  the  fliip  obferved  at  the  fame 
inftant,  was  21^  48' ^  and  it  may  be  concluded  that 
the  latitude  of  the  point  of  Formosa  is  21°  54'. 
It  is  22°  2'  on  the  Chart  of  the  China  Sea,  con- 
ftruâed  in  the  voyage  of  La  Pé  rouse,  if  we  there 
take  the  difference  of  the  parallel  of  this  point 
in  regard  to  the  fouth-eaft  point  of  the  great 
Botel-Tabago-Xima  the  pofition  of  which  is 
fixed  by  the  obfervations  made  in  that  voyage  ; 
Alexander  Dalrymple  places  the  fouth  point 
of  Formosa,  on  the  Chart  of  the  Cbina  Sea,  pub- 
Jifhed  in  1771,  in  latitude  22®  2'  30''.  I  prefent 
thefe  differences  only  for  the  purpofe  of  inducing 
navigators  to  afcertain  which  of  the  latitudes  ought 
to  be  adopted. 

In  Order  to  cflablifh  the  true  longitude  of  the 
fouth-weft  point  of  Formosa,  which  is  now  to 
fervc  as  a  term  of  comparifon  to  which  we  fhall 
ttdutrc  the  calculations  of  the  Soi^ide's  run  from 

the 


Nov.  Ï791O       marchand's  voyage.  425 

the  Sandwich  Iflands  to  abreaft  of  this  point,  I 
obferve  that  the  fouth-eaft  point  of  the  great 
Botel-Tabago-Xima  is  fituated,  according  to 
the  obfervations  made  in  La  Pé  rouse's  voyage, 
of  which  I  take  the  liberty  of  making  ufe  by  an- 
ticipation, in  119*^  32'  eaft  longitude  ;  and  that,  on 
the  chart  of  the  China  Sea  conftru6i:ed  in  this  voy- 
age and  intended  to  form  a  part  of  the  Atlas 
which  will  accompany  the  narrative,  the  fouth-weft 
point  of  Formosa  is  lefs  eafterly  than  the  fouth- 
eaft  point  of  the  Great  Botel,  by  52  minutes: 
the  longitude  of  the  point  of  Formosa  is  therefore 
118^40/. 

But  on  the  i8th  of  November,  at  noon,  the 
Solide,  according  to  the  bearings  of  the  land, 
was  I2y  minutes  lefs  to  the  eaft  ward  than  the 
'point  of  Formosa  :  the  longitude  of  the  Ihip,  at 
this  period,  was  therefore  118°  27'  40''. 

Let  us  firft  fee  what  was  the  error  of  the  dead 
reckoning  in  the  interval  comprifed  between  the 
obfervations  for  the  longitude  made  on  the  i6th 
and  the  land-fall  on  the  1 8th. 

The  longitude  deduced  from  the  obfervations 
of  the  16th  was  (preceding  Note)  122°  6':  that 
which  was  deduced  from  the  bearings  of  the  i8th 
is  118°  28' (in  round  numbers)  :  thus,  in  the  in^ 
terval  of  forty-eight  hours,  the  fhip's  progrels  to- 
wards the  weft  was  3°  38'i  But,  according  to 
the  dead  reckoning,  this  progrefs  appeared  to  be 
3^  34^'        the  différence  of  4  minutes,  or 

3-72 


4^6  marchand's  voyage.       [Nov.  1791.  | 

3.72  miles,  is  the  quantity  which  it  may  be  fup- 
pofed  that  the  currents  carried  the  fhip  to  the 
weftward. 

During  the  fame  time,  they  carried  her,  accord- 
ing to  the  obfervations  of  latitude,  17  minutes,  or 
17  miles,  to  the  northward. 

The  compound  movement  of  the  fliip  out  of 
her  apparent  courfe,  was  therefore  17.4  miles  in 
two  days,  or  8.7  miles  in  twenty-four  hours,  to 
the  north  12®  30'  weft. 

As  the  SoLiDE*s  voyage,  on  leaving  the  fouth- 
weft  point  of  Formosa,  no  longer  prefents  any 
point  of  comparifon  till  her  arrival  at  Macao, 
and  as,  in  fight  of  this  point,  the  calculations 
of  the  dead  reckoning,  made  during  this  latter 
part  of  the  run,  are  redlified,  I  can  fuppofe  it 
terminated  on  the  i8th  of  November;  and  I  (hall 
examine  what  was,  on  making  the  land  of  For* 
mosa,  the  error  of  the  longitude  deduced  from  the 
obfervations  of  the  i6th,  and  what  was  the  error 
of  the  longitude  deduced  from  the  dead  reckoning 
fince  her  departure  frpm  the  Sandwich  Iflands. 

The  longitude  of  the  ihip,  on  the  i6th  at  noon, 
according  to  the  obfervations  made  on  that  day, 
of  122^6'eafti  and  the  progrefs  by  account  to- 
wards the  weft,  from  the  i6th  at  noon,  to  noon 
of  the  18th,  the  period  of  the  bearings  being 
taken  off  the  Ifland  of  Formosa,  is  f  34  :  thus 
the  longitude  of  the  Solide,  on  the  i8th  at  noon 
(according  to  the  reckoning  of  a  courfe  of  forty- 
eight 


Nov.  1791»]       marchand's  VOYAGE.  427 

eight  hours,  deduced  from  the  refult  of  the  obfcr- 
vations  of  the  i6th)  was  118°  32'.  We  have  feen 
that  her  true  longitude  deduced  from  the  bearings 
was  118®  28':  the  fuppofed  longitude  was  therefore 
in  error  only  4  minutes,  or  about  li  leagues  ajlem 
of  the  true  i  I  fay  afterny  relatively  to  the  courfc 
of  the  fliip  which  was  failing  towards  the  weft. 

Let  us  fee,  at  prefent,  what  would  have  been 
the  error  on  making  the  land,  if,  in  order  to 
regulate  the  courfe  of  the  Solide,  aftronomical 
obfervations  had  not  been  made  ufe  of,  and  if  the 
ignorance  of  the  captain  had  condemned  him  to 
employ  only  the  ordinary  methods  of  navigation. 

The  longitude  deduced  from  the  dead  reckon* 
ing  from  the  point  of  departure  taken  from  the 
Sandwich  Iflands,  on  the  7th  of  Odober,  was 
at  the  moment  of  the  bearings  being  taken  off  the 
Ifland  of  Formosa,  on  the  i8th  of  November, 
124°  47^:  and  as  we  have  feen  that  the  true  lon- 
gitude of  the  fhip,  at  that  period,  was  iiS''  28',  it 
follows  that  after  41I  days'  navigation,  the  longi- 
tude by  account  was  in  error,  aftern  (iince  it  is 
eaft)  6°  19',  which,  in  the  parallel  of  the  point 
arrived  at,  anfwer  to  a  little  more  than  117  leagues. 

The  following  Table  prefents  the  partial  errors 
of  the  dead  reckoning,  fuch  as  they  may  be  reck- 
oned in  each  of  the  periods  which  divide  the  run, 
confidering  the  refults  of  the  obfervations  for  the 
longitude  made  at  the  extreme  limits  of  each  pe- 
riod, as  fixed  points  of  comparifon. 

Periods 


I 

428  MARCH  AN  D'S  VOYAGE.  [NoV.  I791J 


I79I. 

oaober 

On  the  7th  at  6  P.  M. 
From  the  7  th  to  the  19th 

From  the  1 9th  to  the  20th 

From  the  20th  to  the  2 3rd 

From  the  23  rd 

November 

to  the  2nd 

From  the  2nd  to  the  4th 

From  the  4th  to  the  i6ch 

From  the  1 6th  to  the  i8th 

Inf 
point 

Periods 

OF  THE 

Observations. 

2^  u  ^  ^  ^ 

tZ,<^  4^         ^                    4k.  u»         «ja  "^H* 
a  '0 

Latitude 
by 

Obfervation 
North. 

0  g  |: 

K^Er»-'hi4^4a.  •<i^Fj>^Vwr,c-n>o 

V    ^  ' 

^??coC>>Oi4!^             0*-.         o-jvo  ^ 

Longitude 
by 

Obfervation 
West. 

o*N4w4».              ^t-.              0  ° 

^  ^  ^  ^     ^  ^  ^ 

Progrefs  in 
Longitude  in 
the  interval  0 
the  Obferva- 
tions accord^  to 
Observation 

"-I 

U>S04^b>                   ^     t-i                  OQ  0 

Ck»         to  4k.              v-n    M  ^ 

^^^^       ^ ^  ^ 

Progrefs  in 
Longitude  in 
the  interval  ot 
the  Obferva- 
tions accord^, 
to  the  Dead 
Reckoning. 

1  1  +  1        II  1 

4>-<«*»»>>vO               4^0»  w 

^  ^  ^  ^       ^  ^  ^ 

Differences  ot 
theProgrefsto- 
1  wards  theWeft 
accords  to  the 
Id.  Reckoning 
1  compared  to 
'  the  Progrefs 
'  according  to 

iOfiSERVATIO.N'. 

j 

1 

B 

1 

Interval 
of  the 
Obfervations. 

1 

It  is  feen  that,  except  in  the  interval  from  the  2nd 
to  the  4th  of  N'ovember,  during  which  the  fliip  appears 
to  have  been  carried  to  the  eqfiward*^  the  currents,  in 

all 

*  This  effca  of  the  currents  is  extraordinary  :  perhaps  it  ought  to 

be 


Nov.  1791.]       marchand's  voyage. 


all  the  other  periods  of  the  run^  conftantly  fet  to 
the  weftward.  The  fum  of  the  imperceptible 
movements  towards  that  fide,  deduéling  that  which 
was  made  towards  the  eaft,  amounts  to  6**  19, 
or  351.6  miles.  If  this  quantity  be  divided  by 
the  number  of  the  days,  417,  it  will  be  found 
that  the  mean  effeél  of  the  currents  carried  the 
(hip  to  the  weftward  8.4  miles  in  twenty-four 
hours.  It  is  well  known  that  this  movement  of 
the  waters,  from  eaft  to  weft,  is  conftant  between 
the  tropics,  in  crofTing  the  Great  Ocean. 


be  attributed  to  an  error  in  the  obfervations  of  the  2nd  or  in 
thofe  of  the  4th.  It  has  been  feen  (page  420)  that,  but  for  the 
correélion  which  it  was  thought  proper  to  make,  and  which  is 
juftified  by  the  precifion  of  the  land-fall  on  Formofa,  the  efFe<ft 
would  have  been  43  minutes  or  about  42  miles  in  two  days, 
or  7  leagues  in  twenty-four  hours.  Perhaps  too,  if  we  obferve 
that  it  took  place  between  the  148  th  and  the  144th  meridian, 
on  approaching  the  Mary- Anne  Iflands,  fituated  in  145°  30', 
we  might  fuppofe  that  the  waters,  after  having  been  impelled  by 
the  general  current,  and  heaped  up,  if  we  may  ufe  the  com- 
parifon,  in  the  great  gulf  which  fpreads  between  the  Iflands 
of  Japan  and  thofe  of  Nenjo  Guinea,  flow  back  in  a  contrary- 
direction,  and  crofling  the  archipelago  of  the  Mary  ^ Anne  Iflands, 
the  range  of  which  extends  on  a  meridian,  acquire,  by  their 
confinement  in  the  channels  between  thofe  iflands,  a  velocity 
towards  the  eaft,  which  is  full  as  far  as  4  or  5  degrees  beyond 
the  meridian  of  that  archipelago.  I  prefent  this  idea  only  as  a 
bold  conjeClure. 


SEVENTH 


marchanb's  voyage.       [Nov.  1791, 


SEVENTH  RUN, 

From  MACAO  to  the  IJle  of  FRANCE. 

NOTE  LX. 

It  has  been  feen  in  the  Narrative,  that  the 
Solide  having  failed  from  Macao  on  the  6th 
of  December,  on  the  nth  made  the  iflots  called 
the  Two  Brothers,,  and  fucceffively  the  group 
of  Pulo-Sapata  :  this  unexpedled  land-fall,  at 
the  time  when  Captain  Marchand  reckoned  that 
he  had  ftill  a  rather  long  run  to  make  before 
he  Ihould  be  near  enough  to  perceive  them,  gave 
him  reafon  to  think  that  they  are  carried  too  far 
to  the  weft  ward,  in  regard  to  Macao,  on  the 
Chart  of  the  China  Sea^  publiihed  in  1771  by  Alex- 
ander Dalrymple,  and  on  the  copy  which 
D'Après  has  given  of  it  in  the  fécond  edition  of 
his  Neptune  Oriental.  As  it  is  by  this  chart  that 
all  the  French  navigators  regulate  their  cojurfe  in 
this  fea,  I  have  conceived  that  it  would  be  ufeful 
to  examine  the  queftion  ;  to  fee  whether  the  modern 
voyages  did  not  furnifh  us  with  data  fufficient  for 
determining,  with  the  precifion  required  for  the 
fafety  of  navigation,  the  difference  of  meridian 
which  ought  to  be  admitted  between  Macao  and 
Pulo-Sapata,  and  to  compare  to  it  that  at  which 
thefe  two  points  are  placed  on  Mr.  Dalrymple's 
chart, 

I.  Bayly, 


Nov.  1791-]        marchand's  voyage.  4gi  , 

I.  Bayly,  the  aftronomer,  in  Cook's  third  voy- 
age, obferved  diftances  of  the  fun  and  moon,  in 
the  Typa  (Macao  Road)  on  the  2nd,  the  28th, 
and  the  29th  December  1779,  and  on  the  13th 
of  January  1780.  Thefe  four  fets  of  obfervations 
furnifhcd  him  with  fixteen  particular  refults,  the 
extremes  of  which  differ  52  minutes.  On  com- 
bining thefe  fixteen  refults  with  thofe  of  the  lunar 
obfervations  which  he  had  taken  at  fea,  before  and 
after  the  (hip's  arrival  in  the  Typa,  and  which  he 
reduced  to  this  road  by  means  of  a  good  chrono- 
meter, he,  by  a  mean  between  all  thefe  refults, 
fixed  the  longitude  of  the  Typa  at  uf"  37'  15^ 
eaft  from  Greenwich*:  and  as,  according  to  the 
'  fame  aftronomer,  the  town  of  Macao  is  more 
eafterly  than  the  Typa  by  i  minute f,  it  refults 
that,  according  to  his  obfervations,  the  longitude 
of  Macao  is  113°  38' 15'^  J. 

Lunar  obfervations,  made  at  the  fame  period 
in  the  Typa  by  different  officers  belonging  to 
the  Resolution,  furniihed  thirty-fix  other  refults 
the  extremes  of  which  differ  f  45'  30'''  ;  and  the 
mean  refult,  after  having  been  combined  with 
that  of  fourteen  other  obfervations,  made  before 
and  after  the  fliip's  arrival,  gave  for  the  longi- 
tude of  the  Typa  113°  48'  34^*^  eaft  from  Green- 
wich ;  and  113°  49'  34^''  for  that  of  Macao. 

*  The  original  ajironomlcal  obfer^vatlons  made  in  a  'voyage  to 
the  "Northern  Pacific  Océan»    By  W.  Bayly,  page  77. 
i  Ihid,  page  76.  X  Ibid,  page  78. 

The 


432  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.         [NoV.  Ijgt* 

The  mean  between  the  mean  refults  of  two  fets 
of  obfcrvations  made  in  Cook.'s  voyage,  would 
therefore  be  for  Macao  113"^  43'  541^^  :  but  as  the 
obfervations  of  the  firft  fet  agree  better  with  each 
other  than  thofe  of  the  fécond,  it  is  expedient  to 
place  greater  confidence  in  them  ;  and  we  may 
admit  for  the  mean  refuU  of  the  two  fets,  113"*  40" 
caft  from  Greenwich. 

We  may  alfo  determine  the  longitude  of  Macao 
by  its  difference  of  meridian  from  Canton. 

2.  George  Robertson,  in  the  excellent  Me- 
moir which  he  has  publilhed  for  the  elucidation 
of  his  large  Chart  of  the  China  Sea  (177 1)  gives 
àn  account  of  various  obfervations  from  which  he 
has  determined  the  longitude  of  Canton*  : 

iBy  the  obfervations  of  the  Hon.  Thomas 
Howe,  (Determined  by  the  emerfion 
of  Jupiter' s  Çiï^  fatellite)  ii3°33'oo^ 

Ditto  of  Captain  Joseph  Huddart 

(emerfion  of  Jupiter's  firft  fatellite)  113  16  00 

iBy  a  great  number  of  obfervations  made 
by  Henry  Brown,  during  his  long 
refidence  at  Canton,  as  Supercargo  113  10  00 

By  the  obfervations  of  Captain  Lestock. 
Wilson,  by  time-keeper  made  by 
Arnold  113  21  15 

*  Memoir  of  a  Chart  of  the  China  Sea»  London,  1 791.  4to. 
page  2. 

T  The 


Nov.  1791.]      marchand's  voyagé.  433 

The  refult  of  the  Hon.  Thomas  Howe  differs 
too  much  from  the  other  three  for  it  to  be  ad- 
mitted *. 

The  mean  of  thefe  would  give. ...  113®  15'  45/'^ 
But  if  we  are  willing  to  adhere  to  a  mean  refult 
between  Mr.  Brown's  longitude  and  that  of  Cap- 
tain HuDDART,  both  deduced  from  the  emerfion 
of  Jupiter's  firft  fatellite,  we  ftiall  have  113° 
13^00'''^  eaft  from  Greenwich,  or  110°  S'^'  4S^' 
from  Paris  f. 

The  difference  of  meridian  between  Canton 
and  Macao  was  determined  by  three  diff'erent 
chronometers  J. 

By  Mr.  Henry  Brown,  at  different  times  i8'W. 
By  Captain  Wilson,  outward  bound.  ,.17' 

By  Ditto  i  homeward  bound.  .  16' 

By  Captain  Joseph  Hudson.  .  ,  16' 

Difference  of  meridian  by  zmean  (Macao 

«eaft)  ï6'4S^f 

The 

*  Rohertfon  obferves  that  the  Hon.  Thomas  Honve  has  de- 
termined the  latitude  of  Canton  at  22°  52'  50"  ;  and  that  Captain 
Jofeph  Huddart  and  Captain  Lejiock  Wilfon,  both  excellent  ob- 
fcrvers,  make  it,  the  former  23°  6'  57",  and  the  latter^ 
23°  6'  53":  which  differs  near  15  minutes  from  that  of  Mr, 
Honve  ;  and  he  adds  that  if  in  Mr.  Hoove's  latitude  there  is 
*^  fo  great  an  error  there  is  reafon  to  conclude  that  the  longitude 
by  the  fame  obferver  cannot  be  exadt.*' 

f  The  Connaijfance  des  Temps  (Nautical  Almanac)  of  the 
year  VIII.  of  the  French  era,  1800,  gives  for  the  longitude 
of  Canton,  1 10°  42'  30''  :  this  is  the  mean  refult  of  feven  emer- 
fions  of  the  nrft  fatellite,  obferved  towards  the  end  of  the  laft 

VOL,  II.  FF  century 


43.4  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  [NoV.  l/gf. 

If  we  add  this  dlfFerence  to  the  longitude  of 
Canton  113®  13'  eaft  from  Greenwich,  we  fliall 
have  for  the  longitude  of  Macao  (in  round  num- 
bers) 113*30'. 

We  had,  farther  back,  by  the  obferva- 

tions  in  Cook's  voyage.   1 13®  40^" 

Longitude  of  MACAO  by  a  mean  .113  35 

(or  in°  i^'  AS">  ^'^d  III''  15'  in  round  numbers, 
eafl:  from  the  meridian  of  Paris*.) 

3.  The  third  voyage  of  Captain  Cook  furnrlhes 
us  with  obfervations  which  may  ferve  to  determine 
the  difference  of  meridian  between  Macao  and 
Pulo-Sapata. 

The  obfervations  of  the  aftronomer  Bayly, 
and  a  chronometer  whofe  rate  was  afcertained 
feven  days  before  at  Macao,  gave  for  the  lon- 
gitude of  Pulo-Sapata  eaft  from  GREENWicHf 
109°  j6',  and  thofe  of  Captain  King  109®  10' J  ; 
the  mean  is  109°  13'  : 

And 


century  by  Father  Fantenay,  a  Jefuit,-  for  which  there  were  no 
correfpondent  obfervations  in  Europe. 
J  G,  Robert/on* s  Memoir,  page  9. 

*  The  longitude  of  Macao  is  likewife  111°  15'  in  the  French 
nautical  almanac  or  Connaijfance  des  Te?nps\  but  the  refult  was 
obtained  by  another  means;  for  it  has  been  feen  (preceding 
Note)  that  it  places  Canton  about  10  minutes  lefs  to  the  eallward 
than  the  determination  which  we  have  adopted. 
'    +  The  Original  Aflronomical  Ob/ern^aiions,  See  page  351. 

J  Cook's  third  njoyage,  Vol.  III.  page  449.  King  fays 
that  his  obfervations  compared  with  Mr,  Bajly*s  time-keeper,, 

place 


Dec.  17910] 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


435 


And  as  it  has  been  feen  (farther  back,  Remark 
ift)  that  the  mean  refult  of  all  the  obfervations  of 
Cook's  voyage  made  in  the  Typa,  placed  Macao 
113**  40'  eaft  from  Greenwich,  it  follows  that 
the  chronometer  indicated  for  the  difference  of  me-- 

ridian  of  PULO-SAPATJ,  4""  27'  weft  from  MA- 
CAO. 

We  may  feek  this  difference  by  another  me- 
thod* / 

The  obfervations  made  in  the  third  voyage  of 
Captain  Cook  during  the  ftay  of  the  Resolution 
and  Discovery  at  Pulo-Condore,  give  us  for 
the  longitude  of  that  ifland  *  : 

By  a  mean  between  49  refults  of  obfervations  of 
the  moon's  diftance  from  the  fun  or  ftars  (the 
extremes  differing  1^23 '15'''')  made  by  Captain 
King  and  another  ofEcer,  we  have  for  the  lon- 
gitude of  PuLo-CoNDORE,  caft  from  Greei^- 
WICH  . . .   loG""  18^  46^' 


i^2iCe.  Pulo-Sapata  m  longitude  109°  i  eaft  from  Greennx)lch% 
^nd  he  adds  that,  during  the  laft  three  days,the  fliips  bad  outrun 
their  reckoning  at  the  rate  of  twenty  miles  a  day  :  as  he  could 
not  attribute  the  whole  of  this  to  the  efFefts  of  a  following 
fea,  he  imputed  it  in  part  to  a  current,  which,  according  to  his 
own  calculation,  had  fet  forty-two  miles  to  the  fouth-fouth- 
weft,  between  the  noon  of  the  19th  and  the  noon  of  the  2Qth  of 
January. 

*  The  Original  AJironomtcal  OhfernjattonSy  &c.  pages  79  and 


80. 


F  F  2 


By 


43^  MarChand's  voyage.        [Dec.  1791. 

By  a  mean  between  22  refults  of  fimilar  obfer- 
vations  (che  extremes  ditFering  0°  ^o' y'^)  made 
by  the  Aftronomer  Bayly,  we  have  106°  44'  29^-^ 

By  a  mean  between  all   106°  31'  38^ 

On  the  other  hand,  we  have  the  eaftern  differ- 
ence of  meridian  of  Pulo-Sapata,  in  regard  to 

PULO-CONDORE  : 

e      f  // 

By  Bayly's  Chronometer*..  ...  2  31  31 
By  that  of  Captain  Hodgson  j-. ...     2  39  co 

And  by  a  mean   2  35  15 

If  we  add  this  difference  of  meridian  to  the 
longitude  of  Pulo-Condore,  106°  31'  38^  we 
fliall  have  for  the  longitude  of  Pulo-Sapata, 
109°  00'  53'':  and,  on  comparing  it  to  that 
which  we  have  adopted  for  Macao,  which  is 
113°  35'  eaft  from  Greenwich,  we  fhall  find 
for  the  difference  of  meridian  of  PULO-SAPATA 
4""  34^  f  weft  from  MACAO. 

A  third  method  prefents  itfelf  to  us  for  deter- 
mining this  difference  ;  and  G.  Robertson  fur- 
nifhes  us  with  it  in  his  Memoir  of  a  Chart  of  the 
China  Sea.  On  the  one  hand,  the  longitude  of 
PuLo-AoR  is  determined  by  feveral  obfervations  ; 
and  other  obfervations  give  us  its  difference  of 

*  The  Original  AJirono7nical  Ohfervahonst  pages  79  and  351 
— Pulo-Condore  106°  44'  29";  Fulo-Sapatai  109°  16' by  the 
obfervations  of  Mr.  Bayly. 

+  Robert/on' s  Memoir  y  page  7, 

meridian 


Dec.  i79i#]     •   marchand's  voyage. 


437 


meridian  from  Pulo-Sapata  :  we  may  thence 
deduce  the  longitude  of  the  latter  i  and  on  com- 
paring it  with  the  longitude  which  we  have  given 
for  Macao,  we  fhall  find  for  their  difference  of 
meridian  : 

For  the  longitude  of  Pulo-Aor,  eaft  from 
Greenwich,  according  to  Mr.  William  Brown, 
1767,  fun  and  moon,  mean  of  3  obfer- 

vations   104**  35' 

aptain  Joseph  Hud  dart,  by  chrono- 
meter *   104  40 

Cook's  third  voyage,  by  a  chronometer 
.   regulated  at  Macao  19  days  before. 
By  Bayly's  obfervationsf  104**  43^  .  } 
By  thofe  of  King,  &c.  J  104  40  , .  3 
Captain  Wilson,   from  Macao,  by 

chronometer  ...    104  40 

Ditto  from  Batavia,  ditto    104  40 

George  Robertson,  from  Madras,  by 

chronometer   104  36 

By  a  mean  between  7  Refults  :  Longitude 
of  PULO'AOR,  eaft  from  GREEN^ 

WICH   104  38Î 

Pr  rather  in  adhering  to  the  four  refults 

which  agree  to  a  minute   104  40 

But,  according  to  the  account  of  G.  Robert- 

*  Robert/on^  s  Memoir  y  page  20. 

+  The  Original  Aftronomual  Ohfervaùons^  P^S^  351» 
%  Cook's  third  ^voyage.  Vol.  III.  page  466, 

F  F  3  SOÎJ5 


43^ 


MARCH  AN  d's  VOYAGE.         [Dec.  i/gi. 


SON,  pâge  7  of  his  Memoir ^  "  by  admitting  Py^ 
LO-AuRo's  extreme  eaftern  longitude  104'  40/ 
from  it  up  to  Pulo-Sapata,  the  meridian 
diftance  is  4°  14'  meafured  by  a  well-regu- 
lated  box-chronometer,  made   by  Arnold, 
having  this  advantage  of  the  iflands  bearing 
*^  due  north,  when  the  altitudes  for  time  were 
made,  fo  that  no  error  could  arife  in  the  efti^ 
mation  of  diftance,  which  is  more  frequently 
the  caufe  of  difference  in  obfervation,  than  any 
error  in  the  obfervations  themfelves*.'' 
If  we  add  the  4*  jV  meridian  diftance  to  the 
longitude  of  Pulo-Aor,  which  we  have  fixed  at 
104®  40',  we  fhall  have  for  the  longitude  of  Pxj-. 
lo-Sapata,  eaft  from  Greenwich,  108^54', 

And,  on  comparing  this  longitude  to  that  which 
we  have  adopted  for  Macao,  113°  35 'eaft  from 
Greenwich,  we  fhall  have  for  the  difference  of  me* 
ridianfrom  Pulo-Sapata  4^41' weft  from  Macao, 
Vye  have  therefore  three  refults  for  this  differ- 
ence of  meridian  : 

The  firft,  by  the  obfervations  of  Cook's  thir4 
voyage,  made  at  Macao  and  Pulo- 
Sapata  (page  435)  . . ,   4""  27' 

The  fécond,  by  the  longitude  of  Pu- 
lo-Sapata, deduced  from  that  of 
Pulo-Condore,  and  compared  to 
our  longitude  of  Macao  (page  436)  4  34 

*  G,  Robertfon^s  Memoir,  page  7, 

4  The 


Dec.  1791.]  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


439 


Tht  third,  by  the  longitude  of  Pulo- 
Sapata,  deduced  from  that  of  Pu- 
LO-AoR,  and  compared  to  that 
which  we  have  admitted  for  Macao 
(as  above)   4  4ï 

7'he  difference  of  meridian  between  Pulo 
Sjpata  and  MjcjOy  hy  a  mean 
between  ally  will  be  ^ ..........  •  4  34* 


4.  Let  us  now  compare  this  difference  of  me- 
ridian, the  mean  refult  of  a  great  number  of  ob- 
fervations  combined  in  which  the  errors  of  the 
one  muft  have  compenfated  for  thofe  of  the  other, 
with  the  difference  which  the  Chart  of  the  China 
Sea  by  Mr.  Dalrymple  has  given  between  Pulo- 
Sapata  and  Macao. 

On  this  chart,  Macao  is  placed  3®  22^  30^'', 
and  Puî-Or-SAPATA  8°  57'  weft  from  the  meri- 

*  The  abfolute  longitude  of  Puk-Sapata  eaft  from  Green- 
fwîchi  deduced  from  the  various  differences  of  meridian  weft 
from  Macao  will  be  as  follows,  admitting  Macao  to  be  113°  35' 
eaft  from  Greenwich  :  ^    ^  o  / 

By  the  ift  difference. .....  4  27  109    3  . 

By  the  2nd   4  41  108  54 

3y  the  3rd   4  34  109  I 

Longitude  of  Puîo-Sapata,  by  a  mean  1^^  i 

Difference  of  meridian,  by  a  mean   4  34 

Longitude  of  Macao. .  . .  ,  .....113  35" 

Rohertjon,  in  his  Table  of  Pofitions  (page  8i  of  his  Me- 
moir) places  Macao  in  113°  30' — Fulo-Sapata  in  roS'''  «^c'; 
and  on  his  Chart  of  the  China  Sea,  Macao  is  laid  down  in 
113''  30'^  2inà  Pulo.Sc^pata  in  108°  52';  the  difference  of  Me- 
ndians  is  by  Ûiç.  Table,  4°  35:',  and  by  the  Chart,  32'. 

F  F  4  dian 


44^  marchand's  voyage.        [Dec.  1791- 

dian  of  the  Ifland  of  Banguey  :  thus  Pulo-Sa- 
PATA  is  there  laid  down  5°  24'  ^o"  weft  from 
Macao:  but  as  this  dijfference  of  meridian  ought, 
according  to  the  obfervations,  to  be  only  4°  34', 
the  error  of  the  pofition  of  Pulo-Sapata,  in 
regard  to  Macao,  on  Mr.  Dalrymple's  chart, 
would  therefore  be  50^  minutes,  which  this  ifland 
is  there  carried  too  far  to  the  weft  ward. 

In  attributing  this  error  to  the  chart,  I  fup- 
pofe,  as  I  ought,  that  the  difference  of  meridian 
between  the  two  points  compared,  fuch  as  1  have 
deduced  it  from  a  mean  between  feveral  refults  of 
obfervations,  is  fufficiently  exadl  ;  but  it  may  be 
remarked  that  the  Solide  having  failed  from 
Macao,  and  made  a  direct  courfe  in  order  to  get 
fight  of  Pulo-Sapata,  fell  in  with  it  much  fooner 
than  Ihe  ought  to  have  done,  if  the  difference 
of  meridian  was  as  great  as  it  is  on  Mr.  Dal- 
rymple's  Chart;  and  the  calculation  of  the  So- 
lide's  run,  regard  being  had  to  the  effedl  of  the 
currents,  gives  this  difference  nearly  the  fame  as 
that  which  refults  from  the  obfervations:  moft 
affuredjy,  this  is  not  ^  decifive  proof  gf  the  ex- 
adiinefs  of  this  determination  ;  but  it  is  at  leaft  an 
additional  prefumption  which  muft  induce  French 
navigators  who  ftiall  make  ufe  of  Dalrymple's 
chart  (or  that  of  D'Après,  which  is  the  Copy  of 
it),  for  regulating  their  courfe  in  going  from 
Macao  to  Pulo-Sapata,  to  keep  a  good  look- 
out 


Dec.  179Î.]        marchand's  voyage.  441 

out  when  the  chart  places  their  fhip,  at  no  more 
than  a  degree  to  the  eaftward  of  that  ifland. 

I  obferve  that,  as  it  is  probable  that  the  iflots 
The  Two  Brothers  have  been  fubjeded  on  the 
chart  to  the  pofition  of  Pulo-Sapata,  they  ought 
to  be  carried  with  the  iCund  about  50  minutes  to 
the  eaftward. 

French  feamen  will  not  have  thefe  corredllons 
to  make,  if  they  ufe  the  Chart  of  the  China  Sea 
publifhed  by  G.  Robertson,  which  has  been 
conftruded  from  the  obfervations  which  the  Eng- 
lifh  navigators  have  multiplied  fo  ufcfully  in  thefe 
latter  times,  and  which  require  to  be  fo  ftill  in 
order  to  fix  with  thç  fame  certainty  the  relative 
pofition  of  that  confiderable  number  of  fcattered 
iflots,  overfalls,  and  dangers  of  ail  kinds  which 
obftru6t  the  China  Sea.  ' 

If  there  is  matter  for  aftoniOiment,  it  is  that 
Mr.  Dalrymple  fhould  have  been  able  to  make 
fo  good  a  chart  as  that  which  he  publifhed  in  1771, 
with  courfes  and  diftances  by  account,  always  fo 
uncertain  in  the  midft  of  currents,  and  yet  thefe 
were  the  only  data  that  he  then  had  at  his  difpofal. 

Since  the  difcuffion  into  which  1  have  entered, 
in  order  to  fucceed  in  determining  the  difference 
of  meridian  of  Pulo  Sapata  in  regard  to  Macao 
has  led  me  to  inquire  into  the  pofidons  of  fome 
points  of  the  China  Sea,  it  will  not  be  ufelefs 
to  French  navigators  v/ho  neither  polTefs  G  Ro- 
bertson's 


442  marchand's  voyage,        [Dec.  tygl, 

bertson's  Memoir  nor  Chart,  to  compare  the 
pofitions  which  I  give  to  thefe  points,  both  with 
thofe  which  he  affigns  to  them  in  his  Ta^le,  and 
with  thofe  which  are  to  be  found  in  the  Connais- 
sance DES  Temps  (Nautical  Almanac)  of  theye.ar 
VIII  of  the  French  era. 


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I.  Macao, 


Dec.  1791.]  MARCH  AN  d's  VOYAGE. 


44S 


I.  Macao.  The  latitude  which  is  given  to  it 
in  the  Connaiffance  des  Temps  is  22°  11'  4./^!'  ^  and 
according  to  a  note  which  was  formerly  commu- 
nicated to  me  by  Citizen  Me  chain,  Aftronomer 
of  the  Navy,  Member  of  the  National  Inftitute 
and  of  the  Board  of  Longitude  of  France,  it 
appears  that  this  latitude  is  founded  on  the  me- 
ridian altitude  of  the  fun,  taken  in  the  College, 
oh  the  17th  of  June  1685,  by  Father  Thomas,  4 
Jefuit,  with  a  gnomon  of  48  feet*.  Father  Gouie -j- 
made  it  only  22®  ii'  but  Father  Chaus- 
se au  me,  who  obferved  this  latitude  at  the  College 
of  St.  Paul,  in  the  fummer  folftice  of  1753,  by 
3  gnomon  of  25  feet,  carefully  fet  up,  found  it 
?2°  1 2' 40^^:  and  in  17 12,  Fathers  Ureman  and 
d'ALCui  had  found  it  22*^  13'  00^^. 

The  obfervations  made  in  Cook's  third  voyage 
gave  for  the  latitude  of  the  Typa  22^  9  22^^; 
and  W.  Bayly  fays  that  the  Typa  is  lefs  north- 
erly than  Macao  by  3  minutes  :  the  latitude  of 
Macao  would  therefore  be  22°  lof  22".  I  know- 
not  why,  according  to  the  fame  data,  W.  Bayly 
has  made  it  only  22°  ii'  00" 

G.  Ro- 

*  Ane.  Mém»  de  l'Académie  des  Sciences.  Vol.  Vll.  page 
705- 

t  Firft  volume  of  his  obfervations,  1682,  8vo.  page  214. 

J  The  Original  Afironomlcal  Ob/er^atlonsy  Sec.  pa-r  6. 
By  a  mean"  fays  Bayly,  "  of  a  number  of  qbfervaticns  of 
meridian  altitudes  of  the  fun  taken  with  my  afironomical 

quadrant. 


444 


marchanb's  voyage.        [Dec.  1791.- 


G.  Robertson  (page  3  of  his  Memoir)  has 
made  it  from  his  own  obfervations  22°  12^00^'', 
and  he  fays  that  they  have  been  corroborated  by 
thofe  of  Captains  Fraser,  CuMMfNG,  and  others. ^ 

If  we  take  a  mean  between  the  feven  deter- 
minations which  I  have  jud  mentioned,  we  fhall 
have  22°  12'  3 1"  for  the  north  latitude  of  Macao  ; 
and  this  it  is  which  I  have  adopted. 

I  have  determined  its  longitude  at  111°  15''  00^' 
eaft  from  Paris  (page  434  of  this  Vol.)  by  a 
mean  between  the  refuit  of  the  obfervations  made 
at  Canton,  and  that  of  the  obfervations  made 
in  the  Typa,  by  W.  Bayly,  Captain  King,  and 
feveral  officers  belonging  to  the  Resolution.  I 
remark  that  this  determination  agrees  with  that 
in  the  Connaiffance  des  TempSy  obtained  by  a  very 
différent  method  :  for  in  the  Note  communicated 
to  me  by  Citizen  Me  chain,  it  is  mentioned 
that  the  longitude  inferted  in  the  Connaijfance  des 
Temps  is  determined  from  ancient  obfervations 
of  ecîipfes  of  the  moon,  of  the  30th  of  Novem- 
ber 1686,  and  of  the  21ft  of  November  1695, 
obferved  at  Macao  by  the  Jefuits.  But  I  am 
very  far  from  pretending  that  this  agreement. 


quadrant,  and  Hadlefs  fextant,  the  latitude  of  the  Typa  is 
22°  9^22"  north,  and  that  of  M^rao  harbour  by  the  town 

"  22°  12' north.    The  Typa  is  3  miles  fou th  from  the  town, 

"  and  it  is  one  mile  weft  of  it." 

which 


Dec.  1791.]        MARCH and's  voyage. 


A-iô 


which  is  due  only  to  chance,  ftrengthens  the  de- 
termination which  I  have  adopted  :  every  one 
knows  what  little  reliance  is  to  be  placed  on  the 
.  refults  of  the  moon's  eclipfes,  ftill  lefs  on  obferva- 
tions  which  are  dated  a  century  ago, 

Robertson's  longitude  differs  from  mine  by 
^5  minutes  in  defedj  but,  to  obtain  it,  he  em- 
ployed only  the  obfervations  made  at  Canton 
with  the  difference  of  meridian  of  Macao  in 
regard  to  this  former  city  ;  whereas  I  have  thought 
that  the  longitude  of  Macao  fhould  be  made  to 
participate  in  the  numerous  obfervations  which 
were  made  in  the  Typa  in  Cook's  third  voyage. 

The  longitude  which  Dagelet  has  deduced  from 
his  obfervations  made  at  Macao  is  111°  19' 30^' 
eaft  from  Paris,  that  is.i4*^3o'  more  to  the  eafl- 
ward  than  the  determination  on  which  I  have 
fixed,  and  9°  45'  more  than  that  adopted  by  Ro- 
bertson. 

2.  PuLO-CoNDORE.  In  Robertson's  Memoir, 
page  8,  it  is  feen  that  the  latitude  of  this  ifland 
is  between  8°  38'  and  8"^  and  he  has  fixed 
it  at  8°  40',  in  his  Table  of  Pofakns,  That  which 
I  have  adopted  is  the  fame,  and  this  is  the  latitude 
given  by  the  obfervation  of  the  fun's  meridian 
altitude,  taken  with  fextants,  at  Pulo-Condore, 
by  W.  Bayly,  and  by  Captain  King  and  other 
officers  belonging  to  the  Resolution,  on  the 
26th,  and  27th  of  January  1780:  the  mean 

refuk 


44^ 


marchand's  voyage. 


[Dec.  iygi,: 


refult  would  even  be  rather  above  than  below 

As  for  the  longitude,  I  do  not  differ  a  quarter- 
of  a  minute  of  a  degree  from  that  in  the  Con- 
naijance  des  Temps  y  but  13  minutes  38  féconds  from 
that  which  Robertson  has  given  in  TaMe  of 
Pojitions. 

He  fays  (page  8  of  his  Memoir)  "  that,  by  the 

chronometers  in  the  Resolution,  Pulo-Com- 
DORE  lies  in  longitude  106®  18^  eaft  of  Green- 
"  wicH,  1^  42^  eaft  of  PuLo-AoR  5  2^  4'  eaft  of 
"  PuLO-TiMOAN  I  and  2^  5'  weft  of  Pulo-Sa- 

PATA  and  he  fixes  on  the  longitude  of 
106®  18' 00''' eaft  from  Greenwich. 

It  appears  that  Robertson  has  adhered  to  the 
mean  refult  of  49  fets  of  lunar  obfervations  made 
at  PuLO-CoNDORE  by  Captain  King  and  other 
officers  belonging  to  the  Resolution,  which  is 
io6*  18'  ^6"  but  the  mean  refult  of  the  22  ob- 
fervations by  the  aftronomer  Bayly,  is  106*^44' 2 9^''^ 
and  I  have  had  the  more  reafon  to  take  the  mean 
between  the  two  mean  refults,  as,  if  the  one  ap- 
peared to  deferve  a  preference  to  the  other,  it 
would  be  that  of  Bayly,  fmce  the  extremes  of 
his  22  individual  refults  differ  between  them  only 
0°  40'  7^  while  the  extremes  of  the  49  particular 
refults  of  the  obfervations  in  the  Resolution  dif- 

*  See  The  ongmal  aJîro?iQ7?ncal  obfervations^  &c.  W, 
Bayly,  page  80. 

fer 


Dec.  1791*]  MAKCHAND's  VOtAGÊ. 


447 


fer  i*^  23'  15^''*.  I  have  therefore  placed  Pulo- 
CoNDORE,  according  to  the  mean  of  the  refults 
of  all  the  obfervations  made  in  the  harbour  of 
that  ifland  in  Cook's  voyage,  in  106°  31 '38''  eaft 
from  Greenwich,  or  104®  11'  23'^  eaft  from 
Paris. 

In  the  flieet  No  51  of  the  fupplement  to  the 
fécond  edition  of  D'Après'  Neptune  Orient al^  is  a 
plan  of  PuLO-CoNDORE;  and  under  the  title, 
ftands  a  note  which  may  lead  into  error  fuch 
French  navigators  as  are  acquainted  only  with 
this  Neptune  for  direding  their  route  in  the  feas 
of  Asia  :  "  This  Ijland  (it  is  there  faid)  is  fituated 
"  in  8°  40'  and  45'  north  latitude ^  and  103°  40'  weft 

longitude  from  the  meridian  of  Paris  the  firft 
of  thefe  latitudes  is  the  true  one  ;  but  the  longi- 
tude indicated  is  too  /mall  by  at  leaft  two-thirds 
of  a  degree. 

3.  PuLO-AoR.  The  latitude  which  I  give  to 
it  is  the  fame  as  that  in  the  Connaijfance  des  Temps  i 
and  each  is  the  mean  refult  of  the  obfervations 
made  in  Cook's  third  voyage. 

That  of  Robertson  differs  from  it  by  upwards 
of  twelve  minutes  in  defe^-^  and  this  difference  is 
too  great  in  a  determination  in  latitude^  for  us 
not  to  have  reafon  to  be  furprifed  at  it,  and  to  be 

*  Thf  original  aflronomUal  obfer'vatwnh  Sec,  page  35 

apprehenfive 


44^  marchand's  voyage.       [Dec.  1791. 

apprehenfive  of  an  error  on  the  one  fide  or  the 
other. 

.  Robertson  fays  in  his  Memoir  (page  9),  that 
the  latitude  of  Pulo-Aor  is  between  2°  29  and 
2®  30'  north;  in  his  "Table  of  PofJions  (page  77) 
we  find  alfo  2°  jo^;  and  the  ifland  is  laid  down 
on  his  chart  in  2^  30'  :  thus,  there  is  no  error  of 
the  prefs. 

But  W.  Bayly,  in  his  "Table  of  Fofttions,  gives 
for  the  latitude  of  Pulo-Aor,  according  to  his 
own  obfervations  2°  44  oo-'  :  and  according  to 
thofe  of  King,  2°  40'  00^'';  mean  2°  42'  00'''  :  and 
Captain  King,  in  the  narrative  of  the  voyage  fays 
that,  on  the  31ft  of  January  1780,  "  at  nine 

o'clock  in  the  evening,  the  weather  being  thick 
"  and  hazy,  and  the  fhips  having  outrun  their 

reckoning  from  the  effed  of  fome  current, 

we  were  clofe  upon  Fulo-Aor,  in  latitude 
"  2°  46'  00^^  north,  before  we  were  well  aw^are  of 
*^  it*:"  thus,  neither  is  there  here  an  error  of 
the  prefs. 

On  which  fide  lies  the  miflake  ?  I  dare  not 
pronounce.  I  remark,  however,  that  Robert- 
son 7nere!y  fays  that  the  latitude  of  Pulo-Aor 
is  between  2^  29',  and  2^  30^  north  ^  but  he  nei- 
ther quotes  the  obfervation  nor  the  obferver  ;*  and 
as  he  is  tolerably  exacl,  and  with  reafon,  in  quot- 
ing both,  when  the  determination  is  founded  on 

*  Cook's  third  'voynge.  Vol.  Ill,  pages  463  and  464, 

an 


Dec.  1791.]  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


449 


an  obfervation,  it  may  be  fuppofed  that  he  knew 
of  none  that  could  fix  the  latitude  of  Pulo- 
AoR  *.  Perhaps,  for  want  of  an  obfervation,  he 
has  taken  the  latitude  of  this  ifland  from  Mr. 
Dalrymple's  Chart  of  the  China  Sea^  where  it  is 
placed,  as  well  as  on  the  charts  Nos.  47  and  49, 
2nd  of  the  fupplement  of  the  2nd  edition  of 
D'Après'  Neptune  Oriental,  in  the  fame  latitude 
as  that  afligned  to  it  by  Robertson. 

We  muft  requeft  the  navigators  who  frequent 
this  fea  to  afcertain,  whenever  they  have  an  op- 
portunity, which  of  the  two  pofitipns  is  the  true 
one. 

4.  Pulo-Sapata.  My  latitude,  which  will  be 
found  conformable  to  that  given  in  the  Connaijfance 
des  T empSy  is  the  mean  refult  of  the  obfervations 
made  in  Cook's  third  voyage  :  10°  4'  00^'  by 
thofe  of  King  f:  and  by  thofe  of  Bayly  J, 
io°  5'  o^''.  Rob ER SON  (page  6  of  his  Memoir) 
fays     The  latitude  of  Pulo-Sapata  I  make  by 

*  The  publication  of  the  narrative  and  of  the  original 
obfervations  of  Cook's  voyage  is,  however,  prior  by  feveral 
years  to  the  publication  of  iRohertfon's  Memoir  and  Chart  : 
Why  does  he  not  make  ufe  of  thefe  obfervations  ?  Why  does 
he  not  quote  them?  I  am  ignorant  of  the  reafon.  Has  he 
conlidered  that  they  ought  not  to  be  admitted  ?  In  that  cafe, 
he  ought  to  have  faid  fo,  and  expofed  his  motives  for  rejeéting 
them. 

+  Cook's  third  ^voyage.   Vol.  III.  page  447. 
%  The  Orlg*  Afiren,  Qb/em),  Sec*  page  351, 

VOL.  II.  c  G  "  fatis* 


marchand's  voyage. 


[Dec.  179Î. 


Jaiisfartory  ohkvvmons  to  be  10°  \  2^"  north;*' 
but  as  he  neither  adds  whether  thefe  obferva- 
tions  were  made  by  himfelf,  nor  by  whom  they 
were  made,.  I  have  thought  it  my  du|;y  to  ad- 
here to  thole  the  obfervers  of  which  are  known  ; 
and  I  have  placed  Pulo-Sapata  in  lo"^  4  30^^ 
north  latitude.  It  is  in  10°  00'  on  Dalrymple's 
Chart  of  the  China  Sea,  and  on  the  copy  which 
D*Apr£s  has  given.of  it. 

In  order  to  fix  the  longitude  of  this  ifland, 
Robertson  has  had  regard  only  to  its  mean  dif- 
ference of  meridian,  2°  55'  00''''  with  refped  to 
PuLO-CoNDORE,  which  he  places  according  to 
the  obfervations  made  in  Cook's  voyage,  in 
loG""  18^ co''' eaft  from  Greenwich,  or  103^  57^45^'' 
eafl  from  Paris,  which  would  give  108°  53'oo''^ 
eaft  from  Greenwich  for  Pulo-Sapata  :  how- 
ever, in  his  T able  of  Pojitions  he  carries  it  to 
108°  55' OO',  or  106°  34' 45^^  ealt  from  Paris. 
He  adds  (page  7  of  his  Memoir)  that      there  is 

little  doubt  of  its  true  longitude  being  fome- 

where   within  108°  53'   and  109®  eaft  from 

Gresnwich.'' 

In  placing  Pulo-Sapata  106^  40'  45^^  eaft 
from  Paris  or  109°  i'  00^^  eaft  from  Green- 
wich, I  do  not  recede  from  the  opinion  of  Ro 
BERTSON  ;  but  I  obtain  this  refult  by  making  th_ 
longitude  of  Sapata  depend  on  the  longitudes 
obfcrved  of  Macao,  Pulo-Condore,  and  Pu^ 

XO-AOR, 

6  • 


Dec.  1791-]  MARCHAND'S  VOYAGE. 


LO-AoR,  and  taking  a  mean  between  the  three 
determinations  which  refult  from  the  differences 
of  meridian  obferved  between  Pulo-Sapata  and 
each  of  the  three  other  points  (page  333  of  this 
Vol.  Notef.) 

■  NOTE  LXI. 

On  examining  the  diftance  and  the  bearing 
of  the  iflots  called  The  Two  Brothers  with 
refped:  to  Fulo-Sapata,  on  the  Chcrrt  cf  the 
China  Sea  hj  Alexander  Dalrymiple,  and  on 
the  General  Chart  of  the  World,  confl:ru6led  by- 
Lieutenant  Roberts  to  accompany  the  narrative 
of  Cook's  third  voyage,  we  find  a  fomewhat 
confiderable  difference  refpe6ting  the  relative  po- 
iition  which  the  two  charts  have  given  to  the 
iflots  and  the  ifland. 

On  Dalrymple's  chart.  The  Two  Brothers 
are  fituated  at  the  diftance  of  33  miles,  to  the 
Xiorch  17^  weft  of  the  largeft  of  the  Pulo-Sa- 
pata  :  and  according  to  Roberts's  chart,  that 
would  be  to  the  north  about  40°  eaft,  and  at  a 
greater  diftance  than  according  to  the  former,  by 
10  or  15  miles,  as  far  as  the  fmallnefs  of  the 
divifions  of  the  fcale  admit  of  its  being  eft^imated. 

The  bearings  which  were  taken  on  board  the 
Solide  in  fight  of  the  iflots  and  in  fight  of  the 
îfland,  the  courfe  which  fne  followed  in  order  to 
repair  from  one  point  of  bearing  to  the  other^ 

o  a     "  anrî 


45^  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  [Dec.  I79I, 

and  the  number  of  leagues  which  (he  ran-  on  this 
courfe,  furnifli  us  with  the  data  neceflary  for 
determining,  by  approximation,  the  relative  pofi- 
tion   of  The  Two  Brothers   and  Pulo-Sa- 

PATA. 

On  the  nth  at  forty  minutes  paft  four  o'clock 
în  the  afternoon.  The  Two  Brothers  bore  weft 
by  fouth,  at  the  diftance  of  about  5  leagues  or 
15  miles:  thus,  comparatively  to  the  point  where 
the  bearings  were  taken  they  were  2.9  miles  more 
to  the  fouthward,  and  14.7  miles  more  to  the 
weftward  than  the  fhip. 

At  three  quarters  pafc  midnight,  the  largeft  of 
the  Pulo-Sapata  bore  diredly  vvefl:,  diftant  5 
miles. 

On  reducing  into  a  fingle  courfe  all  thofe  which 
the  Solide  ran  in  the  interval  from  one  bearing 
to  another*,  we  find  that  fhe  made  18.5  miles 
fouthing  and  3.25  miles  eafting. 

Çut  I  remark  that,  on  comparing  the  latitude 
obferved  on  the  nth  at  noon  (Journal  of  the" 
Route)  n°  14,  with  that  of  Pulo-Sapata  (on 
the  parallel  of  which  the  fliip  was  at  the  moment 
of  the  bearing  being  taken  at  three  quarters  paft 

hours.  milés.  hours.  miles. 

*  From  4I  to  ^  SV^  4°  S. .  2.0   From  8  to  9  SSE   1.5 

From  5  to  6  SW  by  S. .  6.Ç    From  9  to  1 1  SE  6.0 

From  6  to  7  SSE  f  E.  .  i.25Trom  11  to  12  SE  by  S. .  3.0 
Froni  7  to  B  SE  by  S.  .  1.5  I  From  12  to  i2|  SSE   i.f 

midnight> 


Dec.  1791.]  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


i53 


midnight),  that  is  to  fay,  with  10*4  30'^*,  it  is 
feen  that,  from  noon  to  three  quarters  paft  mid- 
night, the  lliip's  real  progrefs  towards  the  fouth 
had  been  i""  ^9-5  n^il^s:  and,  as  accord- 

ing to  the  dead  reckoning,  the  apparent  progrefs 
towards  the  fame  fide,  and  in  the  fame  interval 
of  time,  had  been  only  41.5  miles  j-^  it  follows 
chat  the  dead  reckoning  had  been  in  error  28 
miles,  in  the  fpace  of  1 2I  hours  5  and  propor- 
tionably,  in  the  fpace  of  8  hours  and  5  minutes, 
clapfed  between  the  time  of  taking  the  firft  bear- 
ing and  that  of  taking  the  fécond,  the  error  muft 
have  been  17.74  miles:  adding  this  latter  quan- 
tity to  18.5  miles  apparent  progrefs  towards  the 
fouth,  we  fhall  have  the  real  or  corrected  pro- 
grefs, in  the  interval  from  one  bearing  to  the 
other,  36.24  miles. 

The  parallel  of  the  point  whence  the  fécond 
bearing  was  taken,  which  is  the  parallel  of  Pu- 
lo-Sapata,  is  therefore  lefs  northerly  than  the 

*  According  to  the  obfervations  made  in  Cook*s  third  voyage 
(page  351  of  the  colleftion)  the  latitude  ot  Fulo-Sapata  is, 
according  to  King  10°  4';  according  to  Bay^v  10**  5';  by  a 
mean  1 0°  4I 

+  From  noon  to  40  minutes  paft  four  ©'clock  on  the  nth 
the  courfes  had  been  SW  28  miles  and  SW.  4^  S.  4  miles, 
which  gives  23  miles  fouthing,  and  as  the  progrefs  towards 
this  fame  lide  from  40  minutes  paft  4  to  three  quarters  paft  mid- 
night had  been  18.5  miles,  that  the  whole  of  the  progrefs  from 
noon  to  three  quarters  paft  midnight,  was  41.5  miles. 

G  G  3  parallel 


454 


MAKCliAND's  VOYAGE.  [Dec.  l/gtv 


parallel  of  the  point  whence  the  firft  was  taken, 
by  36.24  miles;  but  The  Two  Brothers  were 
lefs  northerly  than  the  point  of  the  firft  bearing 
by  2.9  miles  :  they  are  therefore  more  north- 
erly than  Pulo-Sapata,  by  36.24  miles  minus 
2.9  miles,  or  33  34  miles. 

Admitting  the  progrefs  towards  the  eafl,  in 
the  interval  of  the  two  bearings,  from  40  mi- 
nutes pafh  four  o'clock  to  three  quarters  pail 
twelve,  fuch  as  it  is  given  by  the  run  by  account, 
the  point  of  the  former  is  more  wefterly  than 
that  of  the  latter  by  3.25  miles:  and  as  Pu- 
ho- Sap  AT  A  is  more  wefterly  than  that  of  the 
latter,  by  5  miles,  it  is  more  wefterly  than  that 
of  the  former,  by  1.75  miles.  But  The  Two 
Brothers  are  more  wefterly  than  the  point  of  the 
former  bearing  by  14.7  miles  :  therefore  they  are 
more  wefterly  than  Pulo-Sapata,  by  13  miles  in 
round  numbers* 

On  the  other  hand,  we  have  feen  that  the 
Two  Brothers  are  more  northerly  than  Pulo- 
Sapata,  by  33.34  miles:  on  combining  this 
quantity  which  they  are  more  to  the  weftward 
with  that  which  they  are  more  to  the  northward 
than  the  iftand,  it  will  be  found  that  The  Two 
Brothers  are  with  refpe6]:  to  the  great.  Pulo- 
Sapata,  north  21°  20'  weft,  and  at  the  diftance 
of  3  f  miles. 

This  relative  pofition  differs  from  that  given 

them 


Dec.  1791.]  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 

them  by  Dalrymple's  chart,  which  places  the 
iflots  to  the  north  17°  weft  of  the  ifland,  and  at 
the  diftance  of  33  miles. 

Although  by  the  method  which  I  have  em- 
ployed for  afcertaining  this  pofition,  there  can 
be  obtained  only  a  refult  of  approximation^  that 
refult,  however,  is  fufficiently  exad  for  conclud- 
ing with  certainty,  that  thefe  two  points  are  bet- 
ter  placed,  with  regard  to  each  other,  on  Dal- 
rymple's chart  than  on  that  confl:ru6led  by  Ro- 
berts for  Cook's  voyages,  fince  on  the  latter,  we 
fee  The  Two  Brothers  fituated  at  the  diftance  of 
40  or  50  miles,  to  the  north  40°  eaft  of  the  great 
Pulo-Sapata. 

iV.  The  remarks  which  Captain  Mar- 
chand and  Captain  Chanal  had  an  apportunity 
of  making  on  the  ftrength  and  direélion  of  the 
currents  in  the  China  Sea,  till  they  quitted  that 
Sea  by  the  Strait  Between  Banca  and  Billiton 
and  that  of  Sunda,  are  to  be  found  in  the  Nar- 
RATIFY  itfelf,  under  the  dates  of  the  15th,  i8th^ 
i^thy  and  25th  of  December. 


G  G  4 


NOTE 


45^  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  [Dec.  I79I. 

NOTE  LXII. 

JNALTSIS  of  the  general  Chart  of  the  two  Straits 
fituated  between  the  Ifland  of  BANCA  and  that 
ef  BILLITON,  known  by  the  name  of  GAS- 
PAR'S  STRAir  and  CLEMENTS'  STRAIT, 
with  failing  dire^ions  relative  to  the  two  fajfages, 

(See  the  general  chart  Plate  VII,  and  the  par- 
ticular Chart  Plate  VIII), 

The  eaft  coaft  of  the  Ifland  of  Banc  a  and 
the  weft  coaft  of  the  Ifland  of  Billiton  leave 
between  them  a  large  paflage  which  was  at  firft 
known  only  by  the  name  of  Caspar's  Strait, 
becaufe  D'Après  de  Mannevillette  publiflied, 
in  1775,  the  firft  Plan  of  this  Strait  (No.  48  of 
the  fécond  edition  of  his  Nepune  Oriental),  under 
the  title  of    Petit  Plan  du  Détroit  a  l*Est  de 

Banc  A,  par  lequel  apajfê  un  navire  Efpagnol  com" 

mandé  par  le  Sieur  Caspar,  '  no  date*.  But, 
in  1781,  Captain  John  Clements,  commanding  a 
fleet  of  Englifh  Eaft-Indiamen,  croflfed  between 
Banca  and  Billiton  by  another  paflTage  than 
that  through  which  Caspar  had  paflTed  5  and, 
fince,  feveral  Englifti  and  French  navigators  have 
pafTed  through  both,  and  given  us  particular  charts 
of  them.  This  ftrait  has  long  been  frequented  by 
the  Portuguefes  but  it  is  well  known  that  the 
navigators  of  that  nation  publifli  nothing. 

•  Alexander  Dalrymple  has  given  a  copy  of  it  in  his  collec- 
tion of  Plans  of  the  Seas  of  Afia, 

The 


pec.  J  791  •]       marchand's  VOYAGE.  457 

The  great  Strait  Between  Banca  and  Billi  - 
TON,  whofe  width  is  about  fourteen  leagues  from 
the  one  ifland  to  the  other,  is  divided  into  two 
arms  by  a  fmall  ifland  which  the  Englifh  have 
named  Middle  Ifland,  and  which  is  alfo  called 
Passage  Ifland. 

This  Strait  therefore  affords  two  Paflages  :  the 
former,  or  the  west  Passage,  between  Banca 
and  Middle  Ifland ,  the  latter,  or  the  east  Pas- 
sage, between  Middle  Ifland  and  Billiton. 

We  have  five  charts  of  the  west  Passage  :  the 
firft  is  that  of  Captain  Caspar,  which  alfo  com- 
prehends the  east  Passage  :  but  the  latter  is 
there  reprefented  in  a  manner  which  muft  induce 
the  belief  that  it  is  impradicable. 

The  fécond  is  a  manufcript  chart  of  Dorde- 
LiN,  an  officer  belonging  to  the  French  navy, 
commanding  the  fhips  Triton,  Provence,  and 
Sagittaire,  who  paflTed  through  the  west  Pas- 
sage, in  going  to  China,  in  1784,  and  on  his 
return  in  1785  :  he  has  annexed  to  it  views  of 
the  land  and  a  few  remarks. 

The  third  is  that  of  Captain  Lestock  Wilson> 
an  Englifliman  commanding  the  fliip  Carnatic, 
coming  from  China  in  1787  :  Mr.  Dalrymple 
has  publiflied  it  in  his  colledlion  of  Plans,  and  has 
printed  the  journal  and  obfervations  ]  of  Captain 
Wilson,  in  his  colleélion  of  Memoirs,  &c.  This 
chart  deferves  particular  attention,  becaufe  the 
intelligent  and  enlightened  navigator  by  whom  it 


4^5.  marchand's  voyage.       [Dec.  1791, 

was  conftruéted,  has  there,  drawn  all  the  angles  of 
bearing  inferted  in  his  journal,  to  which  the  chart 
is  faithfully  fubjeéled  ;  and  the  different  points  are 
conneded  with  each  other  by  trigonometrical  ope- 
rations :  we  remark  above  all  that  frequently, 
fi'om  the  fame  flation,  two  points  are  fet  by  each 
other  or  by  oppofite  ^rhumbs  :  as,  for  inftance, 
one  point  by  another,  north  by  eaft  j  or  elfe,  a 
point  north  by  eaft,  at  the  fame  time  that  he  fet 
another  fouth  by  weft  :  and  it  is  well  known  that 
bearings  of  this  fort  are  the  only  ones  which,  for 
fixing  relative  pofitions,  prefent  an  inconteftable 
cxa6tnefs. 

The  fourth  chart  is  that  of  Captain  John  Pas- 
cal Larkins,  commanding  the  fhip  Warren 
Hastings,  coming  from  China  in  1788;  it  was 
publifhed  in  the  coiledion  of  Mr.  Dalrymple's 
plans,  and  the  Journal,  in  his  collection  of  Ide- 
moirs,  I  wifh  it  were  in  my  power  to  beftow  the 
fame  praife  on  this  chart  as  on  that  of  Captain 
Wilson;  but  it  is  feldom  found  to  agree  with  the 
Journal,  according  to  which  it  ought  to  have  been 
conftrudedj  and  the  lands  on  it  feem  fcattered 
and  reprefented  at  random  ;  fortunately,  his  jour- 
nal furnifhes  data  which  may  be  employed  very 
ufefully  in  the  plan  of  Gaspar's  Strait. 

The  fifth,  in  fhort,  is  the  chart  which  was 
conftru6ted  in  1791,  by  Captain  Chanal,  and 
the  Engineer  Le  Brun,  on  board  the  fhip  So- 
lide, commanded  by  Captain  Marchand,  com- 
ing 


Dec.  1791»] 


marchand's  voyage. 


459 


ing  from  China,  and  the  data  of  v/hich  are  to 
be  found  in  the  NARRATIVE  OF  THE  VOT^. 
JGE  vol.  I.  at  the  dale  of  the, 21ft,  22nd,  and  23rd 
■of  December,  1791. 
^  We  have  but  three  plans  of  the  East  Pas- 
sage ;  and  they  can  be  reckoned  only  as  two. 

The  firft  is  that  of  Captain  John  Clements, 
commanding  a  fleet  of  Indiamen  :  he  is,  as  I  have 
already  faid,  the  firft  known  navigator  who  at- 
tempted in  1781  to  pafs  through  the  East  Pas^ 
SAGE,  and  ftruck  out  this  new  track  to  the  fhips 
of  his  nation.  The  nam^e  of  Clements'  Strait 
distinguifhes  it  from  the  West  Passage  or  Gas- 
par's  Strait,  The  plan  of  this  Strait  was  con- 
ftrudled  by  George  Robertson^  an  officer  em- 
ployed on  board  the  Commodore's  fbip,  the  Van- 
sittart*';  Mr.  Dalrymple  v/as  the  firft  who 
publiftied  it,  in  his  Colleofmz  in  1786:  and,  in 
1788,  Robertson  brought  out  a  Plan  of  Gafpar's 
and  Clements'  Straits,  together,  without  any  fcalc 
of  latitude,  like  that  of  1786,  but  with  a  fcale 
of  marine  miles  of  25  lines  to  a  mile.  In  the 
fame  year,  he  publiOied  a  chart  of  the  Straits 
of  Banca,  Gafpar^  and  Clements^  united  in  the  fame 
flieeton  a  fcale  of  fix  inches  to  a  degree.  On 
both  are  drawn  the  tracks  of  the  diixerent  Englifli 
navigators  who  have  paiïed  through  thefe  Straits, 

From  this  expofition  of  Robertson's  labour^ 

*  This  is  a  miftake  :  though  Robertson  was  on  board  th 
<J^ajtfiiîart,  Û\t  QQmméàQït'%  fliip  was  the  G/fl/^e«#  Tranjlatar» 

which 


^6o  marchand's  voyage-       [I)ec.  1791. 

which  appears  to  have  been  performed  with  equal 
care  and  intelligence,  it  feems  that  it  might  have 
been  fufficient  to  copy  his  chart  or  his  pian,  and 
to  add  to  it  the  track  of  the  French  navigators 
but  I  hope  that  the  feamen  who  fhall  read  the 
analyfis  of  the  new^  chart  which  I  prefent  to  them, 
will  be  of  opinion  that  Robertson's  chart  and 
plan  flood  in  need  of  fome  corre6lions  ;  and,  no 
doubt,  a  longer  acquaintance  with  thefe  ftraits  will 
foon  prove  that  this  new  chart  itfelf  is  fufeptible 
of  improvement,  I  will  not  diffemble,  that  it 
ftill  leaves  much  to  be  wifhed  for:  what!  does 
not  every  one  know  that  a  fea  chart  is  never 
finifhed  ? 

The  fécond  plan  of  the  East  Passage  is  a 
chart  of  Captain  Allen  Cooper,  commanding 
the  fhip  Atlas,  in  1785,  and  coming  from  the 
fouthward.  This  chart  is  comprifed  in  the  Col- 
lection  of  Mr.  Dalrymple  who  has  alfo  publifhed, 
in  his  coUedion  of  Memoirs^  Captain  Cqoper's 
Journal  j  all  the  points  there  correfpond  very 
exadtly  with  the  bearings  inferred  in  the  journal. 

Of  thefe  fix  charts  or  plans  (for  that  of  Gas- 
par  is  too  defeclive  in  every  part  for  it  to  be  made 
^ny  ufe  of),  I  have  formed  a  general  chart  which 
comprehends  the  two  Passages,  and  pre  fen  ts  the 
whole  of  the  great  Strait  Between  Banca 
AND  Billiton:  the  plans  of  the  West  Pas- 
sage are  conne6ted  to  thofe  of  the  East  Pas-. 
SAGE  by  Gasfar's  and  Middle  Iflands  which 

arc 


Dec.  1791.]       marchand's  voyage. 


are  common  to  the  two  paflages,  and  from  which 
bearings  have  been  taken  on  the  two  routes.  But 
in  order  to  enable  enlightened  navigators  to  judge 
of  this  new  chart,  I  muft  difcufs  the  materials  of 
which  I  have  made  ufe,  and  examine,  point  by- 
point,  and  contradidlorily,  the  journals  and  charts, 
which,  till  this  day,  have  come  to  my  knowledge. 

I  begin  by  the  analyfis  of  the  West  Passage  ; 
and,  in  going  from  the  northward  to  the  fouth- 
ward,  it  will  lead  us  to  the  points  which  are  com- 
mon to  the  two  paflages. 

1.  The  northern  coaft  of  Bança,  from  Point 
Pesant  to  its  East  Point,  was  drawn  from  the 
journal  and  chart  of  Captain  Chanal,  who  took 
bearings  of  the  different  points. 

The  four  Breakers  fituated  to  the  north-eaft  of 
Point  Brisée  of  Banca  and  marked  on  my  chare 
a,  b,  c,  d,  as  well  as  the  ifles  and  iflots  to  the 
caftward  of  that  point,  were  in  like  manner  fub- 
jeded  to  bearings  taken  on  board  the  Solide* 

which, 

*  On  the  ?ift  of  December  179 1,  at  three  quarters  pad  4, 
P.  M.  Point  Bn/ee,  bore  S.  30''  W.  the  firft  ifland  on  the  coaft, 
to  the  eaftward  of  this  point,  S.  from  17  to  20'  W:  the  fécond 
ifland  S.  from  10  to  12°  W. 

Captain  Marchan»  hauled  clofe  on  a  wind  on  the  larboard 
tack,  with  a  frefti  breeze  at  N.  N.  W.  in  order  to  avoid  a 
breaker  which  was  perceived  to  the  fouthward. 

At  4  minutes  after  5,  this  breaker  bore  S.  1 8°  W.  2  or  3 
miles. 

At  1 2  minutes  after  5,  a  fécond  breaker  fhewed  itfelf  to  the 
north  I  f  eaft  diftant  1 1-  or  2  miles. 

At 


4^2  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  [DeC.  ly^î' 

■which,  as  is  feen  by  her  track  drawn  on  the 
chart  and  mentioned  in  the  narrative,  paffed  be- 
tween 


At  the  fame  inftant,  a  third  feen  to  the  fouth  3'°  30' 
weft,  at  the  diftance  of  3  or  4  miles. 

The  Solids  bore  up  to  the  fouth-eaft  in  order  to  clear  u 
,  fourth  breaker  which  was  feen  ahead. 

At  50  minutes  after  5,  the  firft  ifiand  that  had  been  fet,  bore 
from  fouth  -13^  to  fouth  49°  weft  ;  the  fécond,  from  fouth  38  to 
40°  weft. 

At  2  minutes  after  fix,  the  fourth  breaker  which  had  been 
feen,  bore  folith  67^  eaft,  diftant  4  or  5  miles. 

From  three  quarters  paft  four,  the  foundings  had  been  12,  13, 
and  14  fathoms,  over  a  bottom  of  fand,  gravel,  and  broken 
{hells  :  the  fame  bottom  continued  till  |  paft  6,  when  Cap- 
tain Marchand  came  to  an  anchor,  in  14  fathoms,  with  the  fame 
kind  of  bottom. 

During  the  night,  there  was  a  moderate  breeze  from  the 
north-weft  with  clear  v/eather  :  the  currents  fet  faintly  to  the 
fourh-fouth-eaft  and  eaft-fouth-eaft. 

On  the  22nd  at  break  of  day,  the  following  bearings  were 
taken:  Point  Br'ife  S.  \  W.  the  third  ifiand,  from  fouth 
35"^  30'  to  fouth  38°  weft — the  fourth  ifland,  from  fouth  t 
to  fouth  4^  30'  weft. 

Captain  Marchand  got  under  way  at  50  minutes  paft  7,  and 
fleered  S.  S.  E.  ^  E  :  ftill  carrying  14  fathoms,  over  a  bottom 
of  fand,  gravel,  and  broken  iliells. 

At  50  minutes  after  8,  Point  Bnjh  weft  1°  30'  fouth — thé 
third  ifiand,  from  fouth  56^  to  fouth  67°  30' weft— The  fourth 
ifiand,  from  fouth  34°  30'  to  fouth  35°  30'  weft— at  40  minutes 
paft  9,  the  third  ifland  from  fouth  83°  to  fouth  84°  weft  ;  and  the 
fourth  or  laft  ifland,  from  fouth  67°  to  fouth  70°  weft.  This 
laft  appears  to  be  furrounded  by  breakers. 

From  that  moment.  Captain  Marchand  ftood  fouth  eaft  by 
fouth — foundings  from  14  to  13  fathoms,  conftantly  the  fame 
kind  of  bottom,  till  4  minutes  after  11,  when  having  perceived 

from 


Bec.  1791.]  -MARCH AN  d's    VOYAGE.  463 

tween  the  four  Breakers  to  the  north  of  Banc  a, 
in  the  midfl:  of  which  fhe  anchored.  The  Mas- 
car  in,  commanded  by  our  Captain  Crozet,  in 
1773,  had  palTed  and  anchored  there  like  the 
Solide*,  and  it  appears  that,  as  far  back  as  1702, 
the  Engliib  galley  the  Macclesfield  had  taken 
her  route  through  thefe  Breakers! .  These  two 
are  the  fame  that  Captain  Williams  in  the  Su- 
livan faw  and  took  bearings  of  in  December 
1784;  but  it  appears,  from  v/hat  is  faid  in  his 
journal,  that  h^  faw  three  only  ;  and,  on  fetcing 
off  thefe  bearings  on  my  chart,  we  conceive  that 
the  Breakers  which  he  faw  are  the  three  wefterly 
ones,  and  that  he  did  not  perceive  the  fourth, 
fituated  to  the  eailward  of  thefe.    The  Journal  of 


from  the  mafthead  Gafpar  Ifland  to  the  eail  6^  fouth,  he  fleered 
S.  E.  by  E. 

At  a  quarter  pail  1 1,  the  high  mountain  of  Banc  a  bore  from 
S.  13°  to  S.  42°  W.  :  Hill  14  fathoms,  imth  the  fame  kmd  of 
hottom* 

*  See  her  track  drawn  on  the  chart  No.  49  2nd  of  the  fécond 
edition  of  D'Après  Neptune  Oriental  :  a  copy  of  it  is  to  be  found 
in  Alexander  Dalrymple  s  collection  of  Plans. 

Mr.  Balryinple  has  publifhed,  under  the  date  of  the  17 th  of 
December  1781,  a  Vle-^  of  Banca^  of  the  iAots  and  the  break- 
ers, taken  from  the  point  where  Crozet  had  anchored.  This 
plan,  which  is  inferred  in  his  ColleMiony  is  to  be  found  there 
under  the  title  of  Tlan  of  the  Place  njohere  Monfleur  Crozef 
anchored  (latitude  1°  56'  fouth)  on  the  eajï  fide  of  Banca,  on  the 
23rd  of  March  1773. 

f  Farther  on  will  be  found  an  extrsét  from  his  journal,  taken 
from  the  colleflion  of  Memoiru  publifhed  by  Alexander  Dal- 
rjmple* 

the 


464 


marchand's  voyage.       [Dec.  1791. 


the  Sulivan  makes  no  mention  of  the  fmall 
iflands  :  it  is  only  faid  there  that,  at  noon  of  thcday 
on  which,  in  the  afternoon,  the  Breakers  were 
difcovered,  there  was  feen,  from  the  mail-head^ 
an  ifland  to  the  fouth-fouth-weft  ;  but  the  weather 
was  fo  over-caft,  thatBANCA  could  not  be  feen*. 

In  following  on  D'Après*  Chart  (No.  49  2nd) 
the  Track  of  the  Mascarin  which  came  from  the 
caftward,  it  is  feen  that  Crozet  had  firft  per- 
ceived the  Breakers  which  are  fituated  to  the 
north  by  weft  of  Caspar  Ifland  (the  principal 
leading  mark  in  the  Strait)  ;  and  that  before  he 
had  reached  the  four  Breakers  to  the  northward 


*  Extradl  from  the  journal  of  the  Sulivan,  Captain  Stephen 
Williamsy  coming  from  China^  taken  from  the  Collection  of 
memoirs  publiflied  by  Alexander  Dalrymple,  Appendix  to  me- 
Tnolrs  of  Charts  of  Sunda  and  Banca^  pages  15  and  16. 

«  On  the  25th  of  December  1784,  At  6  A.  M.  the  wea- 

ther  clearing  a  little,  faw  the  ifland  of  Banca  S.  W.  by  W. 

"  At  8  A.  M.  faw  a  high  body  of  land  from  S.  by  W.  to 
"  W.  by  N.  which  is  the  land  we  firft  faw;  diftant  from  the 
**  neareft  (hore  about  5  leagues.'* 

At  noon  faw  an  ifland  from  the  maft-head  S.  S.  W.  being 
"  very  cloudy  could  not  (tç,  Banca.*' 

At  half  paft  2  P.  M.  faw  three  J/^oals  of  Breakers,  one 
**  bearing  about  S.  S.  W.  3  miles  diftant — another  S.  E.  by 
"  S.  3  miles,  and  another  E.  N,  E.  about  4  miles." 

I  immediately  hauled  my  wind  to  the  northward.  (Wind 

N.  W.  courfe  N.  N.  E.)" 

"  At  half  paft  4  P.  M.  the  northernmoft  breakers  bore  S.  E, 
•*  by  E.  f  E.  diftant  full  two  miles;  on  the  breakers  tliere  ap- 
^*  peared  tuooox  three  rocks  above  water.** 

4  of 


Dec.  1791-]  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  4^5 

of  Banca,  he  had  fecn  in  the  interval  z  Jolitary 
Breaker  which  is  laid  down  on  D'Après'  chart, 
and  which  I  have  thought  neceffary  to  preferve  on 
mine,  becaufe,  if  its  pofition  be  doubtful,  its  ex- 
iftence  is  certain.  The  Solide's  track  palTes  three 
leagues  to  the  eaftward  of  this  folitary  Breaker: 
it  was  not  feen  by  Captain  Marchand  s  buta 
Breaker  which,  perhaps,  does  not  always  break, 
may  probably  not  be  perceived  at  three  leagues' 
diftance. 

II.  Let  us  endeavour  to  fix  the  latitude  of 
Caspar  Ifland,  the  principal  leading  mark  for 
fhips  that  are  bound  through  the  ftraits  from 
the  northward. 

On  the  old  Plan  publifhed  by  D'Après,  No. 
48  of  the  fécond  edition  of  his  Neptune  Oriental, 
Caspar  Ifland,  under  the  name  of  lie  du  Pas- 
sage (Passage  Ifland),  is  placed  in  6'  fouth 
latitude.  This  latitude  is  certainly  fmaller  than 
the  true,  by  upwards  of  a  quarter  of  a  degree  : 
but  how  had  it  been  obferved  ?  by  whom  ?  and 
with  what  inftrument  ? 

On  D'Après'  Chart  No  49  2nd,  a  copy  of 
which  is  to  be  found  in  Mr.  Dalrymple's  Col- 
ledion,  and  on  which  is  marked  a  track  of 
Crozet,  in  1773,  which  pafTes  to  the  north- 
ward of  the  flraits  and  pretty  near  Caspar  Ifland, 
the  latitude  of  the  middle  of  this  ifland  is  2®  17'; 
VOL.  II,  H  H  but 


4^6  marc-hand's  voyage.        [Dec.  1791. 

but  we  are  ignorant  by  what  proceeding  it  was  de- 
termined. 

Robertson's  Plan,  inferted  in  Mr.  Dalrym- 
ple's  coHedion,  under  the  date  of  1786,  has  no 
fcale  of  latitude  :  in  that  which  Robertson  him- 
felf  publifhed  in  1788,  and  which  differs  from  the 
former  only  by  its  being  on  a  larger  fcale,  and 
alfo  comprehending  Caspar's  Strait,  we  read 
IÙ  the  parallel  which  palTes  through  the  peak 
of  Caspar's  Lland,  Latitude  South  2"  20'  i  but  it 
is  not  mentioned  that  this  latitude  was  obferved  ; 
we  are  even  juftified  in  thinking  that  it  was  not^ 
for  we  remark  that  the  fmallefl  diftance  at  which 
Clements  was  from  the  ifland,  is  26  miles  to 
the  fouth-eaft:  and  if,  in  this  pofition,  he  had 
deduced  the  latitude  of  Caspar  Ifland  from  fo 
difadvantageous  a  bearing,  efpecially  when  it  is 
combined  with  fo  great  a  diflance,  this  determina- 
tion could  not  but  be  very  doubtful.  Indeed,  it 
does  not  appear  that  Robertson  has  adopted  it 
exclufively  :  for  in  his  Table  of  Latitudes  and 
Longitudes  which  is  to  be  found  at  the  end  of 
the  Memoir  that  he  publifhed  with  his  hand- 
fome  Chart  of  the  China  Sea*^  the  Peak  of 
Caspar  Ifland  is  placed  in  latitude  2°  27', 
though,  on  his  Plan  of  the  Strait,  it  is  laid 
down  in  2°  30',  and  though,  in  his  chart  of  the 

*  Memoir  of  a  Chart  of  the  China  Seay  &c,  hy  George  Ro' 
bert/ony  London,  179b  4to,  page  123. 

4  Straits 


Dec.  1791-3 


marchand's  voyage. 


467 


Straits  of  BancUy  G  a/par  and  Clement  s  y  it  is  alfo 
2°  30'  :  and,  in  the  fame  Table,  he  gives  a  fécond 
latitude  of  the  fame  point  of  Caspar  Ifland,  of 
2°  25^35'''':  this  lafl  is  accompanied  by  the  mark 
j-,  which  indicates  the  pofitions  deduced  from 
the  obfervations  of  Captains  Huddart,  Hodg- 
son, and  Wilson,    "  which,"  he  fays,  "  are 

feemingly  well  determined." 

Dor  DEL  IN,  in  a  manufcript  Memoir,  relates 
that,  on  the  3rd  of  Auguft  1784,  Caspar  Ifland 
bore  from  him  at  noon,  from  north-eaft  by  north 
3°  45' north  to  north- north-eaft,  diftant  5  leagues: 
which  places  the  fouth  coaft  of  the  ifland  in  2°  22'^ 
and  its  peak  in  2°  2 1  ^  i 

On  the  23rd  of  February  1785,  on  his  return 
from  China,  the  obferved  latitude  of  the  fhip  was 
2°  24',  and  Caspar  Ifland  bore  at  the  fame  mo- 
ment, from  eaft  15°  fouth  to  eaft  26°  fouth,  at  the 
diftance  of  3>or  4  miles  at  moft  :  which  gives 
2°  24' 30^-^  for  the  north  coaft  of  the  ifland,  and 
2°  25' 15// for  the  Peak. 

On  the  fame  day  the  captain  of  the  fliip  the 
Provence  (a  man  of  great  reputation,  fays  Dor- 
delin),  which  was  failing  in  company  with  the 
Triton,  had  an  obferved  latitude  of  ^  22',  which 
would  give  for  the  Peak  of  the  ifland  2°  23'  15'''. 

Captain  Cooper,  in  1785,  fays,  in  his  printed 
Journal,  page  24,  that,  on  the  8  th  of  Auguft,  he 
took  his  departure  from   Caspar  Ifland,  as  it 

H  H  2  bore 


468 


marchand's  voyage.        [Dec.  1791, 


bore  at  noon  of  that  day,  north  T9"caft  diftant 
4  or  5  miles.  The  latitude  of  the  fliip,  ob- 
ferved  at  noon,  was  2°  33',  whence  we  conclude 
that  the  latitude  of  the  ifland,  according  to  the 
bearing,  is  2°  28'  /s.^"  \  but  the  obfervation  is 
marke;d  indifferent^  that  is  neither  good  nor  bad, 
doubtful  ;  and  we  muft  imagine  that  Cooper  did 
not  confider  himfelf  bound  to  adhere  to  it;  for, 
after  having  faid  in  his  Journal,  that  he  places 
Caspar  Ifland  in  latitude  2*^  30'  fputh,  we  find  it 
placed  on  his  chart,  in  2°  21'  20^',  at  its  middle. 

Captain  Wilson,  in  1787,  deduced  from  his 
obfervations  and  from  his  bearings  in  the  Strait 
the  latitude  of  Caspar  Ifland  2^  22'  00^^  (p^g^ 
28  of  his  printed  Journal)  but  it  is  not  mentioned 
to  what  point  of  the  ifland  he  applies  it  :  on  his 
chart,  the  north  coafl:  of  the  ifland  is  in  2°  1 9',  the 
Peak,  in  2®  20',  and  the  fouth  coafl,  in  21'. 

Captain  Larkins,  in  1788,  having  got  aground 
on  the  Shoal  which  he  difcovered  to  the  north- 
wefl;  of  Caspar  Ifland,  there  obferved  the  lati- 
tude (page  16  and  17  of  his  Journal)  :  on  the  2nd 
of  May  2^  22';  on  the  3rd,  2°  23';  on  the  4th, 
2°  22' j  by  a  mean,  2°  22'  io\  and  the  point  where 
he  fl:ruck  is  laid  down  on  his  chart  of  the  Strait 
in  2°  23'. 

But  he  fays  (page  16,)  that  from  this  very  point, 
the  centre  of  Caspar  Ifland  bore  fouth  70°  eafl:, 
diftant  6  miles  :   tliis  ifland  v/ould  therefore  be 

according 


Dec.  1791.]         MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE,  469 

according  to  the  bearing  5f'  more  to  the  fouth- 
ward  than  the  point  where  he  ftruck,  and  confe- 
qiiently  in  i""  28' 40^-^;  but,  on  his  chart,  it  is 
placed  in  25' 45^^  I  am  ignorant  of  the  caufe 
of  this  difference;  but  it  will  be  feen  hereafter 
that  there  muft  be  an  error  in  the  diftances  efti- 
mated  by  the  eye  ;  for  it  is  impoffible  to  make 
thefe  diftances  agree  with  the  angles  of  bearing 
taken,  from  the  place  where  the  lliip  got  aground, 
to  the  middle  of  Gaspar  Ifland  and  to  the  middle 
of  Rocher  Navire,  the  Tree  Island  of  the 
Englifh. 

On  the  22nd  of  December  17 91,  Captains 
Marchand  andCnANAL  deduced  from  their  ob- 
iervations  at  noon  the  latitude  of  the  Solide, 
2°  2i',  and  as  the  Peak  of  Caspar  Ifland  bore, 
at  the  fame  inftant,  diredly  eaft  of  the  Ihip,  its 
latitude  is  the  fame  as  that  of  the  Solide*. 

On  recapitulating  all  the  latitudes  of  Caspar 
Ifland  which  I  have  mentioned: 

Caspar's  Plan   2    5  00 

Crozet's  Track  2  17  00 

(Memoir   P  ^7  00 

Robertson's  <  t  ^  ^5  35 

2  30  00 


I^Plan  and  Chart  . .  | 


*  See  the  Jourtml  of  the  Route  at  the  date  of  the  22nd  of 
J)ec.  1791. 

H  H  3  Dor- 


470 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


[Dfic.  179t. 


o  ,  If 

DORDELIN,   1784                               .  2  21  15 

DORDELIN,    1785   2  25  15 

The  Ihîp  the  Provence   2  23  15 

3  On  his  chart   2  21  20 

C  Journal    2  22  00 

W^'-^^^     lOn  his  chart   2 


Lar 


KINS 


20  00 

r  Journal    2    28  40 

lOn  his  chart   2    25  45 

MarchandI  "J 

and       VJ ournal  and  chart  V  2    21  00 
Chanal   \  \ 

it  is  feen  that,  with  a  great  number  of  détermina* 
tions,  the  latitude  of  Gasp  a  r  Ifland  cannot  be 
determined  in  an  inconteftible  manner.  Navi- 
gators, no  doubt>  will  not  be  willing  to  admit 
the  firfl  two,  the  foundations  of  which  are  un* 
known,  and  which  befides  differ  too  much  from 
thofe  that  have  been  fubfequently  obferved  3  thofc 
of  Dor  DELI  N  and  of  the  fhip  the  Provence 
depend  on  eftimated  diftances  :  thofe  of  the  Eng- 
lifli  prefent,  in  general,  one  quantity  in  their 
Journals,  and  another  quantity  on  their  charts  ; 
the  latitude  determined  by  Captains  Marchand 
and  Chanal  is  the  only  one  againfl:  which  no 
objedlion  can  be  made  -,  the  fhip  was  exaélly  on 
the  parallel  of  the  Peak  of  Caspar  Ifland,  at 
the  moment  when  a  good  obfervation  gave  2°  21' 

for 


Dec.  1791.]        marchand's  voyage. 


471 


for  the  latitude  ;  I  remark,  befides,  that  this  dé- 
termination is  the  fame  as  that  of  Dor  del  in  in 
1784;  the  fame  as  that  which  Cooper  has  em- 
ployed on  his  chart  5  the  fame,  within  a  minute, 
as  that  given  by  Captain  Wilson  whofe  obferva- 
tions  are  reputed  corred.  I  add  another  remark 
to  the  firfl:.  Navigators  know  that  it  is  very  dif- 
ficult to  determine  with  exa6lnefs  the  latitudes  of 
points  fituated  near  the  equator,  efpecially  in  the 
months  when  the  fun  has  little  declination,  be- 
caufe  the  meridian  altitude  of  the  fun  cannot  be 
obferved  with  precifion,  when  the  luminary  culmi- 
nates near  the  zenith  of  the  obferver*  :  now  the 
obfervation  of  Captains  Marchand  and  Cha- 
NAL  was  made  on  the  22nd  of  December,  a  day 
of  the  fummer  folftice  in  the  auftral  hemifphere, 
that  is,  at  one  of  the  periods  of  the  year  the 
moft  favourable  for  having,  at  noon,  the  fun  lefs 
near  the  zenith,  when  the  obferver  is  in  the  paral- 
lels in  the  vicinity  of  the  equator;  whereas 
Cooper  having  obferved  on  the  8th  of  Auguft; 
DoRDELiN,  on  the  3rd  of  Auguft  and  23rd  of 
February  -,  Larkins,  on  the  2nd  of  May  and  fol- 
lowing days  i  thofe  navigators  muft  have  had  the 

*  It  is  to  this  difficulty  of  obferving  exaftly  the  meridian 
altitudes  of  the  fun  near  the  zenith,  that  muft  be  attributed  the 
great  diiferences  that  are  remarked  between  the  latitudes  which 
difFerent  feamen,  good  obfervers,  have  given  to  the  fame  points 
of  the  weft  coaft  of  Africa  fituated  in  the  vicinity  of  the  equi- 
noftial  line. 

.        H  H  4  fun 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  [Dec.  179I. 


fun  much  nearer  the  zenith  than  the  obfervers  of 
the  Solide  had,  I  am  therefore  of  opinion  that, 
without  fearing  to  be  fufpe6led  of  too  favourable 
a  prepoffeflion  for  the  obfervation  of  thefe  laft, 
I  can  grant  it  the  preference  to  the  others,  and 
place  the  Peak  of  Gaspar  Ifland  in  latitude  2**  21' 
fouth. 

As  for  its  longitude,  it  may  be  determined  by 
approximation. 

In  G.  Robertson's  Table,  we  find  two  pofi- 
tions  which  differ  little  from  each  other  :  the  firft, 
marked  *,  107^4'  eaft:  from  Greenwich,  or  104° 
43'45^'eaft  from  Paris,  is  that  which  Robcrtfon 
has  difcufled  and  which  he  has  employed  in  his 
chart  of  the  China  Sea*  :  the  fécond,  marked 
107^7'  15'  eaft  from  Greenwich,  or  104°  7'  eaft 
from  Paris,  is  that  which  Wilson's  obferva- 
tions  have  given;  but  it  will  be  104°  48' 45'^  if 
we  place  Pulo-Aor,  from  which  he  deduced  its 
longitude  by  a  chronometer,  in  102°  19'  45''  weft 
from  Par  IS  f. 

*  Mr.  Robert/on  has  varied  refpeéting  the  longitude  of  Gaf^ 
far  ifland  :  for  it  has  juft  been  feen  that,  in  his  Table  of  Pofi^ 
tions,  publiflied  in  1790,  he  gives  this  longitude  107°  4'  eaft 
from  Greenwich,  and  this  is  within  2  minu  es,  that  of  his 
Chart  of  the  China  Sea,  publiflied  the  fame  year  on  which  Gaf» 
par  is  placed  in  107°  2';  but  on  his  chart  of  the  Straits  of 
Banca,  Gafpar,  and  Clements,  I/88,  and  on  his  large  Plan 
ofGafpars  and  Clements*  Straits,  the  fame  year,  it  was  106° 
53',  and  106°  54'. 

Captain 


I  Dec.  179 !•]         MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  473 

Captain  Cooper  (page  24  of  his  Journal)  fays 
that  he  has  placed  Caspar  Ifland,  by  his  chrono- 
meter corre^edy  in  longitude  106°  55'  eaft  from 
Greenwich,  or  104''  34'  45^^  eaft  from  Paris. 
But  Mr.  Dalrymple,  who  in  his  colledion  of 
Memoirs  y  has  printed  Cooper's  original  Journal, 
obferves,  in  an  introdudion  which  he  has  pre- 
fixed to  this  Journal  (page  iv)  that  at  the  time 
when  this  navigator  paffed  the  Strait,  his  chrono- 
meter did  not  give  the  longitude  with  competent 
precifion. 

Captain  Chanal,  in  comparing  his  dead  rec- 
koning, corrected  by  allowing  for  the  effedl  of  the 
currents,  to  the  longitude  of  the  North  point  of 
Banca,  fuch  as  it  is  given  on  D'Après'  chart, 
reckoned  that  the  longitude  of  the  Ihip,  on  the 
22nd  at  noon,  was  104°  12' eaft  from  Paris  :  and, 
as  at  this  period,  the  diftance  from  the  Peak  of 
Caspar  Ifland,  eftimated  by  the  eye,  was  28  or  29 
miles  eaft,  he  makes  the  longitude  of  the  Peak 
104°  40'  or  41. 

In  taking  a  mean  between  the  determinations 
which  I  have  juft  mentioned  ;  but  excluding  the 
third,  which  differs  too  much  from  the  other  three, 
and  granting  fomething  more  to  that  of  Wilson 
than  to  the  firft  two,  we  might  place  the  Peak  of 

+  See  Note  LX.  pages  437  and  442  are  the  longitude  which 
Rolertfon  has  given  to  Pulo-Aor  and  that  which  I  have  de- 
duced :  Wil/on's  chronometer  gave  him  îox  Ga/par  2°  29' eaft 
from  A9r,  (See  Jiis  Journal  page  28.) 

Caspar 


474  marchand's  voyage.       [Dec.  1791. 

Caspar  îfland  in  longitude  104°  45'  go^^  weft  from 
Paris,  or  107°  5^15'^  weft  from  Greenwich. 

III.  After  Gaspar  ifland,  which  as  I  have  faid, 
is  properly  the  leading  mark  for  çhe  entrance  of 
the  ftrait,  in  coming  from  the  northward,  the 
point  that  it  is  of  moft  importance  to  fix,  is  the 
dangerous  fhoal  which  Captain  Larkins  difco- 
vered  in  1788,  on  which  his  ftiip  remained  aground 
for  three  days,  and  which  may  be  called  the 
Warren  Hastings'  Shoal,  from  the  name  of 
his  ftiip  :  unfortunately,  the  contradidtion  that  is 
to  be  found  between  his  journal  and  his  chart 
leaves  a  great  uncertainty  refpedling  the  real  pofi^ 
tion  of  this  flioal  in  regard  to  Caspar  Ifland  and 
Tree  Ifland  -,  but  at  leaft  navigators  will  be  ap- 
prifed  that  they  have  to  avoid  a  flioal  fituated  to 
the  weft-north-weft  of  the  ifland.  I  fliall  com- 
pare the  bearings  and  diftances,  fuch  as  they  ap- 
pear in  the  Journal  taken  from  the  point  where  the 
ftiip  ftruck  on  the  eaft  edge  of  the  flioal,  with 
the  bearings  and  diftances  of  the  fame  points  fuch 
as  they  ftand  on  the  chart. 

In  the  Journal  fpage  16. J       On  th€  Chart, 

i  Is  not  on  the  chart. 

pThe  eaft  point  of  Ban- 
The  extremes  of  Banca,  |  ca  S.  35^  W.  The 
from  S.  22°  W.  to  S.^  lands  more  to  the 
52°  W.  I     weftward  are  not  de- 

L    lineated  on  it. 

The 


The  high  land  of  Ban 
ca,  S.  58°  W. 


Dec.  179!.]  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


475 


In  the  Journal  (page  16)        On  the  Chart. 
The  centre   of  Caspar"^ 

ifland  S.  70"^  E.  diftant  6  ^    S.       E.  6  miles, 
miles.  -J 

Tree  IQand  ;    or   ^o.^Y^^.^aiy  hxxth  oi  tht 
cher-Navire  S.  17  K  ^^^1^ 
E.  diftant  9  miles.  J 
The  comparifon  of  the  pofitions  given  in  Lar- 
KiNs's  Journal  and  of  thofe  which  he  has  employed 
in  his  Chart,  is  fufficient,  without  any  obferva- 
tion,  to  fhew  the  want  of  agreement. 

Let  us  firft  endeavour  to  place  Tree  Ifland 
(Rocher  Navire)  in  the  pofition  which  it  ought 
to  have  with  refpeét  to  Gaspar  Ifland  ;  we  fliall 
afterwards  fee  how  it  will  be  poflible  to  fubjedt 
the  Warren  Hastings'  Shoal  to  thefe  two 
points,  by  the  bearings  which  Larkins  took  of 
them,  while  he  lay  aground. 

Wilson,  page  4  of  his  Journal,  fays  that,  paf- 
fing  to  the  weftward  of  Tree  Ifland,  Gaspar 
Ifland  bore  in  one  with  it,  north  62°  eaft,  or  eaft 
28°  north  j  but  this  linear  direétion,  on  his  chart, 
is  that  of  the  centres  of  the  two  objeâ:s  ;  and 
the  moft  fouthern  part  of  the  ifland  there  lies,  with 
refpe6b  to  the  moft  fouthern  part  of  Tree  Ifland, 
eaft  22^;  or  23°  north.  The  bearing  of  thefe  laft 
two  points  is  exadtly  the  fame  on  Dordelin's 
manufcript  chart,  on  Robertson's  large  plan, 
and  on  Larkins's  chart:  and  the  Solide,  in 

'  pafling 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  [DeC.  I79K 


pafllng  to  the  weftward  of  Tree  Ifland,  at  the 
diftance  of  about  five  miles,  had  the  fouth  point 
of  Caspar  in  one  with  the  fouth  iflot  of  Trejs 
Ifland,  bearing  eaft  23^  north*.    On  Robert- 
son's large  Plan,  the  centres  of  the  two  obje6ls, 
as  well  as  their  moft  fouthern  points  lie  in  like 
manner,  with  refped  to  each  other  eaft-north-eaft 
and  weft-fouth- weft.    This  bearing  of  the  centre  ' 
of  Tree  Ifland,  to  the  fouth  62°  weft,  or  weft, 
fouth,  from  the  centre  of  Caspar  Ifland, 
therefore,  appears  afcertained  in  fuch  a  manner 
that  it  may  be  employed  with  fafety  j  and  it  is, 
no  doubt  vaguely,  that  Captain  Cooper  fays,  in 
his  Journal,  that  Tree  Ifland  is  to  the  fouth- weft 
of  Caspar  Ifland  ;  for,  on  his  chart,  he  has  placed 
the  fouth  iflot  to  the  weft  22  or  23°  fouth  of  Cas- 
par. 

As  to  the  diftance  of  Tree  Ifland  from  Cas- 
par Ifland,  the  Plan  of  Dordelin  f  who  pafîèd 
between  them  both,  in  going  to  and  coming  from 
China,  and  anchored  there,  gives  us  the  width  of 
the  channel,  from  coaft  to  coaft,  5^  miles,  and  it 
is  the  fame  on  Robertson's  large  plan,  and 
there  are  feen  four  tracks  of  fliips,  marked  be- 
tween Caspar  Ifland  and  Tree  Ifland. 

Captain  Wilson,  (page  28  of  his  Journal)  has 

*  See  the  Narrative,  vol.  II.  at  the  date  of  the  22nd  of  De- 
cember, 1 79 1. 

+  The  fcaîe  of  this  Plan  is  7  inches  7  lines  to  a  degree. 

concluded 


Dec.  1791.]       marchand's  voyage* 


concluded  from  his  different  bearings,  taken  from 
a  bafe  which  he  meafured  by  the  fiiip's  way,  that 
this  width  was  6.64  miles  ;  but  he  does  not  fay 
whether  it  be  from  ccafi  to  coajly  or  from  centre  to 
centre  ;  on  the  chart,  this  diftance  of  6.64  miles, 
is  that  from  coall  to  coaft  j  and  that  from  centre 
to  centre  is  there  about  7^  miles.  The  method 
which  he  employed  for  meafuring  the  width  of 
the  channel  is  not  fufceptible  of  very  great  pre- 
ciiion  :  but,  in  combining  fome  other  bearings 
which  he  took  in  the  ftrait,  and  particularly  thofe 
from  his  ftation  we  find  that  the  diftance  from 
Tree  lOand  to  Caspar  Ifland,  taken  from  centre 
to  centre,  may  be  reduced  to  7.2  miles  in  lieu  of 
7.5.  I  obferve,  befides,  that  there  is  never  any 
inconvenience  in  prefenting  on  a  chare  a  chan- 
nel a  little  narrower  than  it  really  is,  and  that  there 
is  a  great  deal  in  prefenting  it  too  wide. 

In  faying  that  there  is  no  danger  in  diminifh- 
ing  a  little  the  width  of  the  channel  between 
Caspar  Ifland  and  Tree  îfland,  I  fhall  not  pro- 
pofe  however,  to  reduce  it  to  miles,  as  it  is 
ieen  on  Captain  Larkins's  chart:  this  navigator 
did  not  pafs  through  the  channel  ;  from  afar  he 
eftimated  the  diftance  from  the  one  ifland  to  the 
other,  while  he  lay  aground  on  the  Warren 
Hastings's  Shoal.  It  appears  that  he  has  judged 
no  better  of  the  diftance  from  his  fhoal  to  Tree 
Ifland,  on  the  one  hand,  and  to  Caspar  IJland, 

on 


47S  marchand's  voyage.       [Dee.  ijgt^  | 

on  the  other  :  and  we  muft  choofe  between  his  j" 
angles  of  bearing  and  his  eftimated  diftances,  j 
which  it  is  [impolTible  to  make  agree.    But  we  1 
cannot  hefitate  refpe6ting  the  choice  ;  the  angles  | 
were  meafured       the  compafsy  and  this  meafure  i 
muft  be  as  exadt  as  the  nature  of  the  inftru-  j 
ment  allows  of,  whereas  the  diftances  were  efti-  | 
mated  by  the  eye^  and  all  feamen  know  that,  efpe- 
f  cially  when  fmall  iflands  are  in  queftion,  errors 
fomewhat  confiderable  may  be  committed  in  efti- 
mations  of  this  nature. 

We  are  convinced  that  the  diftance  which  Lar- 
KiNS  has  eftimated  between  Tree  IQand  and  Gas- 
par  Ifland,  is  too  fmall,  and  thofe  which  he  has 
fuppofed  between  each  of  thofe  two  points  and  the 
Warren  Hastings's  Shoal,  are  fo  too.  In  or- 
der to  learn  by  approximation  thefe  two  laft- 
mentioned  diftances,  I  have  made  ufe  of  the  dif- 
tance between  the  two  iflands,  which  I  have  before 
eftabliftied  of  7.2  miles  from  centre  to  centre^  and  of 
their  bearing  fouth  62°  weft  and  north  62°  eaft, 
which  has  been  well  afcertained. 

With  thefe  data  and  the  angles  of  bearing  taken 
by  Captain  Larkins,  from  the  place  where  he  lay 
as:round  on  the  Warren  Hastings's  Shoal  to 
Tree  Ifland,  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other 
to  the  centre  of  Gaspar  Ifland,  we  may  fix  the 
diftance  of  the  flioal  to  each  of  thefe  points. 

In  order  to  abridge  the  difcuflion,  I  employ  a 

figure 


Dec.  l/^l']  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


47^ 


figure  which  will  be  found  on  my  ehart  Plate 
-VIL 

In  the  figure,  let  w  be  the  Warren  Has- 
tings's Shoal,     Tree  Ifland,  g,  Gaspar  Ifland. 

The  data  are  :  i .  The  angles  of  bearing  mea- 
fured  from  the  fhip  when  aground  on  the  flioal, 
by  Lark  INS,  namely,  the  angle  s  w  r,  from  the 
Warren  Hastings's  Shoal  to  Tree  Ifland,  from 
fouth  to  eaft  17°. 

The  angle  s  fv  from  the  Shoal  to  the 
Island,  from  fouth  to  eaft  7 

2.  The  diftance  of  the  objeéls,  r,  g,  from  cen- 
tre to  centre,  7.2  miles. 

3.  Laflly  the  angle  ^  r  g  of  bearing,  from 
Treê  Ifland  with  refped  to  Gaspar  îfland,  from 
caft  to  north  28°  the  complement  of  62  degrees, 
the  angle  of  bearing  from  north  to  eaft. 

We  fliall  then  know  the  three  angles  in  the  tri- 
angle R  w  G, 

For,  we  have  the  angle  r  w  (31=70°— i 7^=5 3^  : 
the  angle  ?r  g  a  (the  complement  o(  zwg  70°)  = 
70  i  the  angle  2,  g  r  (alternate  of  g  r  e,  28°)=:28^; 
and  confequently  the  whole  angle  r  g  ^^=48°  : 

And  the  third  angle  g  r  w  (fupplement  of  the 
fum  of  the  two  former)  equal  to  79"". 

In  calculating  the  triangle  according  to  the 
formulas  of  trigonometry,  we  fliall  find  : 

IV  G,  diftance  from  the  Shoal  to  the  centre  of 
Gaspar  Ifland::::8.B5  miles. 

w  R 


480  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  [Ûec.  179 i. 

«r  R  diftance  from  the  Shoal  to  Tree  Ifland= 
6.7  miles. 

The  former  of  thefe  diflances  is,   in  Lar- 
KiNs's  Journal,  6  miles,  and  alfo  6  miles  on  his 
chart  :  the  latter  is  9  miles  in  the  journal,  and 
5§  on  the  chart. 

As  thefe  diftances  were  eftimated  by  the  eye,  it 
is  not  furprifing  that  there  fhould  be  an  error  in 
both  5  but  we  may  be  aftonifhed  that  the  chart 
does  not  agree  with  the  journal,  neither  as  to  .the 
diftances,  nor  as  to  the  angles  of  bearing.    I  have, 
as  I  have  faid,  thought  it  proper  to  pre  fer  ve 
thefe  angles  fuch  as  they  were  inferred  in  the 
Journals  they  were  obferved,  and  thefe  are  the 
only  data  of  La  r  kin  s  on  which  it  is  pofTible  to 
rely  :  but  why  did  he  not  make  ufe  of  them  in 
conftruéling  his  chart  ?  He  gives  no  reafon,  and  it 
is  not  pofTible  for  me  to  atone  for  his  filence  :  it 
were  to  be  wifhed  that  Mr.  Dalrymple,  who  has 
publiflied  the  Journal  and  the  chart,  had  explained 
himfelf  refpeding  this  want  of  agreement  which 
certainly  has  not  efcaped  him  ;  and  no  one  better 
than  he  could  aflign  the  caufe  of  it,  and  redify 
the  chart  and  the  journal.    It  is  eafy  to  conceive 
how  greatly  fuch  contradictions  muft  embarrafs  a 
navigator  who  has  before  him  both  the  Plan,  and 
the  written  data,  according  to  which  the  Plan 
ought  to  have  been  conftruded  ;  they  leave  him 
in  doubt  to  determine  on  which  fide  the  truth  lies  j 

he 


Dec.  1791  •]  MAKCHAND's  VOYAGE. 


4§i 


he  may  even  (ufpcB:  whether  it  be  on  either  : 
and  his  embarrafsmenc  here  muft  be  the  greater, 
as,  till  now,  the  Warren  Hastings's  Shoal  is 
laid  down  only  on  Larkins's  charts  unlefs  it  be 
on  fome  chart  with  which  I  am  not  acquainted, 
more  recent  than  thofe  publifhed  by  G.  Robert- 
son in  1788  and  1790. 

IV.  On  the  chart  No.  49,  2nd,  making  part  of 
the  Supplement  of  the  fécond  edition  of  D'Après' 
Neptune  Oriental,  and  of  an  earlier  date  than  all 
the  charts  which  I  have  quoted,  is  feen  another 
fhoal  fituated  to  the  northward  of  the  north  point 
of  Caspar  Ifland,  at  ten  miles  diflance,  mea- 
fured  between  this  point  and  the  fouth  part  of  the 
flioal.  Crozet's  Track  in  the  Mascarin,  in 
1773,  which  is  marked  on  this  chart,  paflfes  only 
at  the  diftance  of  4  miles  from  the  north  part  of 
the  fiioal  which  occupies  i  mile  -,  and  it  may  be 
prefumed  that  it  is  from  the  account  of  this 
navigator,  that  D'Après  has  placed  it:  Crozet 
having  paffed  only  at  the  diftance  of  16  or  17  miles 
from  the  north  point  of  Caspar  ought  to  have 
feen  at  the  fame  time  that  ifland  and  the  breakers 
of  the  fhoal. 

I  find  on  Dordelin's  chart,  (track  going  to 
China)  a  fhoal  nearly  in  the  fame  polition  :  he 
places  it  to  the  north  by  weft  of  the  moft  north- 
ern part  of  Caspar  Ifland,  and  at  the  diftance  of 
about  10  miles,  meafured  from  the  fouth  extremity 

VOL^  II.  II  of 


482  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE,  [Dec.  1791» 

of  the  fhoal  ;  he  gives  it  4  miles  in  extent  from 
north  by  well  to  fouth  by  eail.  At  its  north 
extremity  is  delineated  an  iflot;  and  Dordelin 
fays,  in  a  note  written  on  the  chart,  that  theje  are 
Rocks  and  Breakers  even  with  the  water's  edge^  and 
that  the  Rock  is  always  above  water.  Dor  delinks 
track,  marked  in  the  chart,  extends  along  the  fhoal 
at  the  diftance  of  about  a  mile  from  the  breakers  : 
and  as  he  faw  at  the  fame  time  Caspar  Ifland,  we 
may  admit  the  pofition  which  he  affigns  to  the  fhoal 
on  his  chart,  relatively  to  the  ifland,  as  well  as  tKe 
extent  which  he  has  given  to  it. 

RoBERTsoN*s  large  Plan  prefents  to  us  two 
fhoals  in  the  fame  quarter,  under  the  name  of 
Breakers  :  the  firft  to  the  north  by  weft  i  or  2^ 
weft  of  the  Peak  of  Caspar  Ifland,  7  miles  from 
its  north  point  :  the  fécond  to  the  north  by  weft 
4°  weft  of  the  fame  Peak,  and  at  lof  miles  from 
the  fam.e  point.  The  extent  of  thefe  ftioals  is  left 
undetermined  on  the  Plan  ;  they  are  merely  indi- 
cated by  a  J  furrounded  by  a  dotted  circle. 

It  is  very  probable  that  the  moft  difliant  fhoal 
is  the  fame  as  that  which  Dordelin  exam.ined  and 
ranged  along  throughout  its  whole  length  :  as  for 
the  fécond,  its  exiftence  might  appear  doubtful. 
The  French  navigator  had  pafted  through  the 
channel  which  fcparates  Caspar  IQand  from  Ro- 
cher Navire  or  Tree  Ifland;  it  vvMs  in  ftanding 
to  the  north  5"  weft,  that  he  perceived  the  breakers 

and 


Dec.  1791.]        marchand's  voyage. 


483 


and  the  rock  above  water  which  he  has  iaid  down 
on  his  chart  ;  and  it  would  be  aftoniihlng  if  he 
had  not  alfo  perceived  the  breakers  nearefl:  to 
the  ifland,  which  are  laid  down  in  Robertson's 
Plan,  in  the  fame  diredion  as  the  mod  diflant 
ones,  relatively  to  the  ifland.  I  pre  fume  that 
Robertson  has  placed  this  fhoal  according  to  the 
Journal  of  the  Sulivan,  Captain  Stephen  Wil- 
liams, who,  in  1784,  on  his  return  from  China, 
pafîed  through  Caspar's  Strait  *.  It  is  there  men- 
tioned that  the  following  bearings  v^ere  taken. 

"  At  "I  pad  9,  A,  M.  faw  Breakers,  bearing 
"  N.  ^E.  diftant  aboiitj  miles,  and  appearing  to 

be  about  3  miles  north  from  Caspar  Ifland, 
"  and  fome  others  bearing  W.  S.  W.  about  6 

miles.  Like  wife  faw  an  Ifland  making  like  a 
"  fail  (this  is  Rocher  Navire  or  Tree  Ifland,) 
"  S.  ~E.  dillant  about  2  leagues,  Caspar  Ifland 
"  then  bearing  S.  E.  diftant  3  leagues.    A  rock, 

off  it,  with  Breakers  all  round  it,  bearing  from 
"  the  fliipS.E.  by  S." 

Thefe  bearings,  taken  at  the  fame  moment^ 
give  room  to  make  a  few  obfervations. 

I.  From  the  point  whence  Caspar  Ifland 
bore  fouth-eaft  difl:ant  3  leagues^  the  Sulivan 
ought  to  have  feen  Tree  Ifland  to  the  fouth  half 

*  Mr.  Dalrymple  has  given  an  extrad  from  this  Journal  in 
one  of  the  Memoirs  of  liis  Colleclion,  the  title  of  which  is,  Jp^ 
fend'ix  to  Memoir  of  Chart  of  Sunda  and  Banca^  page  i6, 

112  eafl:| 


4^4 


MARCHANd's  voyage.       [Dec.  1791. 


eaft  ;  but  the  diftancc  of  this  rock,  which  carries 
it  only  to  2  leagues,  has  been  badly  cftimated  ; 
it  was  at  3,  as  well  as  the  diftance  from  Gaspar 
Ifland  :  in  order  to 'be  convinced  of  this,  it  is  fuHi- 
cient  to  prick  off  the  bearings  of  Gaspar  Ifland 
on  our  chart  where  the  relative  pofition  of  this 
ifland  and  "'of  Tree  Ifland  is  fixed  according  to  the 
Bearings  of  Wilson,  Chanal,  &c.  It  will  be 
feen  that  the  point  of  bearing  of  the  Sulivan  is 
at  /^rd'^ leagues'  difl:ance  from  Tree  Ifland. 

2.  The  point  of  this  bearing  may  be  equally 
well  determined  by  the  two  bearings  and  the  dif- 
tance alone  from  Gaspar  Ifland,  although  there 
is  an  error  refpedling  the  efl:imated  diflance  from 
'Tree  Ifland  j  for  it  is  well  known  that  it  is  very 
ufual  to  efl:imate  the  difl:ance  too  fmall,  when  bear- 
ings are  taken  from  a  little  ifland  which  is  lofty  ; 
and  the  bearing  with  refped  to  Tree  Ifland  is 
exaét,  as  well  as  the  bearing  with  refped  to  Cas- 
par Ifland.  In  therefore  admitting  this  bearing,  let 
us  look  for  the  pofition  of  the  Jirji  Breakers.  It 
is  faid  that  ^h^y  [were  about  3  miles  to  the  north 
half  eaft  of  the  fliip  -,  and  that  Gaspar  Ifland  bore 
fouth-eafl:,  diftant  3  leagues  or  9  miles,  the  fliip 
was  therefore  about  6^  miles  more  to  the  north- 
ward than  Gaspar  Ifland:  and  as  the  breakers 
were  ftill  about  3  miles  more  to  the  northward 
than  the  fliip,  they  muft  therefore  ht  9^  miles 
more  to  the  northward  than  Gaspar  Ifland.  It 


DeC^  179*0         MARCHAND*S  VOYAGE.  485 

is  therefore  evident  that  there  is  an  error  in  the 
Journal,  when  it  is  faid  there  that  the  Breakers 
are  about  3  miles  to  the  northward  of  Caspar 
Ifland  ;  it  was,  no  doubt,  naeant  to  fay  3  leagues  or 
5  miles. 

3.  At  prefent,  I  remark  that  the  fouth  part  of  the 
breakers  feen  by  Dordelin,  the  fame,  according 
to  every  appearance,  as  thofe  feen  before  by  Cro- 
ZET,  is  diftant  about  10  miles  from  the  north  point 
of  Caspar  ;  and  that  the  extent  of  fea  which  they 
occupy  in  breadth,  is  fituated,  with  refped  to 
the  ifland,  between  the  north  by  weft  and  the 
north:  thus,  from  the  pofition  where  the  Suli- 
van  was  in  regard  to  Caspar  Ifland,  thefe 
breakers,  if  they  be  at  the  point  where  they  are 
(■    laid  down  on  Dor  deli  n's  chart,  muft  have  borne 
from   the    Sulivan,   from  north-north-eaft  to 
i    fiorth-eaft,  their  fouth  part  about  6  miles  diftant  : 
1^     and  yet  thofe  which  he  (aw  bore,  it  is  faid  in  his 
;     Journal,  north  half  eaft  diftant  only  3  miles. 
[        We  cannot  therefore  affirm  poiitlvely  that  thefe 
'j     breakers  were  the  fame  as  thofe  which  Dordelin 
I    faw  ;  but  ftill  lefs  can  we  fay  that  they  are  not 
the  fame  ;  the  Su li van's  bearings  appear  not 
taken,  or  at  leaft  let  off  with  exadneis,  and  can 
I     infpire  no  great  confidence  :  her  commander  may 
i     have  been  miftaken  here  as  elfe\<^here.    It  has 
.  been  feen  that  her  journal  places  thefe  breakers  3 
piiles  to  the  northward  of  ^Caspar  Ifland  ;  and 

Ï  I  3  from 


4^6  marchand's  VOYAGE.         [Dec.  ,1791, 

from  thofe  very  bearings  is  taken  the  proof  that 
they  muft  be  diftant  from  it  3  leagues  or  9  miles-, 
we  cannot  therefore  place  the  Sulivan breakers 
3  rniics  to  the  northward  of  Gaspar  IQand  ;  and 
if,  as  v/e  muft  conclude  from  her  bearings,  we 
carry  them  9  or  10  miles,  we  fall  on  Dordelin's 
Breakers,  at  leaft  as  to  the  diftance  from  Caspar 
Ifland.  I  obferve  that  if,  independently  of  the 
latter,  there  exift  others  to  the  north  half  eaft  of 
the  point  from  which  the  Su li van's  bearings 
were  taken  of  Caspar  Ifland  and  Tree  Ifland, 
DoRDELiN  who,  on  failing  from  the  middle  of  the 
channel  which  feparates  them,  conftantly  held  a 
northerly  courfe,  muft  have  pafted  very  clofe  to 
the  caftward  of  the  Sulivan's  Breakers  :  and  as 
he  has  laid  down  none  on  the  chart,  we  are  affured 
that  he  faw  none. 

Hov/ever,  as  it  is  always  a  matter  of  confidera- 
tion  to  fupprefs  a  Ihoal,  even  when  there  are  the 
moft  juftifiable  doubts  refpe6ling  its  exiftence,  I 
have  thought  it  proper  to  preferve,  on  my  charts 
that  of  the  Sulivan,  becaufe  I  cannot  fuppofe 
that   Captain  Williams  has  committed  errors 
refpe6ling  all  his  bearings  and  all  the  diftances 
which  he  has  eftimared  :  but,  in  order  to  place 
this  Shoal,  I  have  paid  no  regard  to  the  diftance  of 
3  miles,  evidently  erroneous,  at  which  he  fuppofes 
Caspar  Ifland;  but  only  to  the  pofition  of  the 
fliip  deduced  from  the  angles  of  bearings  taken,  at 

the 


Dec.  1791.] 


marchand's  voyage. 


487 


the  fame  time,  from  Caspar  liîand.  Tree  Ifland, 
and  the  Shoal.    What  determines  me  to  preferve 
it,  is,  on  the  one  hand,  the  bearing  of  the  Shoal 
with  refpe6l  to  the  fhip,  a  bearing  which  does 
not  agree  with  Dordelin's  Breakers  :  it  is,  on  the 
other,  becaufe  Dordelin  tells  us  that  the  rock  to 
the  northward  is  always  above  water ^  and  that, 
doubtlefs,  Captain  Williams  of  the  Sulivan 
would  not  have  failed  to  make  the  remark  ;  yet  I 
admit  that  this  laft  motive  is  weakened,  if  we  no- 
tice that  Dordelin  fpeaks  but  of  one  fingle  rock 
above  water  3  that  he  does  not  fay  that  it  is  lofty  ; 
that  he  might  probably  have  perceived  it,  becaufe 
he  ranged  along  the  Breakers  from  fouth  to  north 
throughout  their  whole  length  j  but  that  this  rock 
may  probably  too  not  have  been  perceived  by  a 
fhip  that  was  at  a  fomewhat  great  diftance  to 
the  fouthward  of  the  Breakers,    Be  this  as  it  mày, 
I  have  laid  down  on  my  chart  thefe  Breakers  of  the 
Sulivan,  under  her  name  ;  I  am,  however,  far 
from  believing  their  exiftence,  and  much  further 
ftill,  from  vouching  that  I  have  not  laid  them  down 
twice. 

Let  us  now  endeavour  to  fix  our  opinion  re- 
fpedting  fome  other  Breakers  which  bore  from  the 
Sulivan  weft-Jouth-wefi^  at  about  6  miles'  dijiance^ 
at  the  fame  time  that  the  former  bore  from  her 
north  half  eaft,  diftant  3  miles. 

Admitting  the  pofition  of  the  fhip  to  be  3 
114  leagues 


marchand's  voyage,        [Dec.  lygt* 


leagues  or  9  miles  to  the  north-weft  of  Caspar 
Ifland,  fuch  as  it  is  given  by  the  Suhvan's  Jour- 
jial,  fhe  ought  to  have  been  to  the  weft-fouth-weft 
the  northern  part  of  the  Warren  Hastings-? 
Shoal  5  but  the  diftance  would  be  only  3  miles, 
and  not  6,  as  it  was  eftimated  by  the  eye  :  for^  if 
we  chofe  to  admit  this  diftance  of  6  miles,  the 
track  of  the  fhip  W  arren  Hastings  which  round- 
ed the  Shoal  to  the  northward,  after  fhe  had  been 
got  off,  would  pafs  over  the  fhoal  feen  by  the 
Sulivan,  if  placed  according  to  that  ihip'5 
Journal 

It  appears  to  me  nearly  proved  that  thefe  fé- 
cond Breakers,  feen  from  the  Sulivan  to  the 
weft-fouth-weft  of  her  pqfition^  are  no  other  than 
a  portion  of  the  Warren  Hastings's  Shoal^ 
which  may  either  be  conneded  with  the  Shoal^ 
or  be  feparated  from  it  only  by  a  channel.  This 
opinion  is  alfo  that  of  Mr.  Dalrymple,  who 
fays,  in  a  note,  that  he  has  added  to  the  Journal 
of  the  Carnatic,  Captain  Wilson,  of  which  he  is 
the  Editor       that  "Captain  Larkins  gives  the 

Beariiigs  of  Caspar  fouth  70°  eaft  and  Tree 

*  In  fpeaking  of  the  track  of  the  Warren  Hafllngs,  I  do  not 
mean  that  which  is  marked  on  Captain  Larkms's  Chart,  but 
that  which  he  ought  to  have  followed,  in  faft,  according  to 
the  data  configned  in  his  journal  ;  thefe  tracks  diifer  rather  con« 
fiderably  from  each  other. 

t  See  page  35  of  Captain  Wilson's  Journal. 

Ifland 


Dec.  1791.]  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  489 

Ifland  fouth  70°  eafl:  when  aground  (in  the  War^ 
REN  Hastings  in  1788)  on  an  extenfive  Reefy 
"  probably  the  Breakers  feen  by  the  Sulivan-, 
"  bearing  weft-fouth-weft  6  miles  diftant,  when 
Caspar  bore  fouth-eaft  and  Tree  Ifland  fouth 
half  eaft.*'     Captain  Wilson,   who  paiTed 
through  Caspar's  Strait  in  1787,  and  was  not 
acquainted  with  the  fhoal  on  which  the  Warren 
Hastings  ftruek  in  1788,  was  not  willing  to 
^dmit  the  exiftence  of  the  Breakers  which  had 
been  feen  from  on  board  the  Sulivan  in  1784, 
In  page  37  of  his  Journal  he  tells  us,  "  In  re- 
fpecl  to  the  Breakers  which  they  fet  weft-fouth- 
weft  6  miles  from  them,  when  Tree  Ifland  bore 
fouth  half  eaft  and  Caspar  Ifland  fouth-eaft,  I 
cannot  but  think  they  were  miftaken,  as,  where 
there  any  exifting,  I  muft  have  pafled  very  near 
them  and  have  feen  them/'    I  obferve  that, 
in  fad,  on  examining  Captain  Wilson. s  Track  in 
the  Carnatic,  it  appears  that  he  pafled  very  cloje 
to  the  weftward  of  the  Warren  Hastings's 
Shoal  :  but  though  he  had  pafled  clofer  to  it  ftill, 
provided  he  did  fo  without  ftriking,  it  would  have 
been  very  poflible  that  he  might  not  perceive 
it,  flnce  Larkins  had  no  knowledge  of  it  till  he 
ftruek  on  it. 

We  may  conclude,  however,  that,  if  the  Break- 
ers feen  by  the  Sulivan  to  the  weft-fouth-weft: 
pf  her  pofidon,  3  leagues  to  the  north-weft  of 

Caspar, 


490 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE,  [Dec.  I79I. 


Gaspar,  are,  indeed,  the  fame  as  the  Warren 
Hastings's  Shoal,  thefe  Breaker Sy  as  the  Capatin 
of  the  Sulivan  terms  them,  muft  needs  not  break 
at  all  times  J  fince  Captain  Larkins>  who  got- 
aground  on  tliem  in  the  open  day  and  at  low  water, 
had  'not  been  apprized  of  their  prefence  by  any 
ripiing,  nor  even  any  change  in  the  colour  of  the 
water  :  and  his  journal  does  not  mention  that, 
during  the  three  days  which  he  remained  aground, 
he  ever  faw  the  fea  break  on  it.  Neither  does 
it  appear  that  Wilson,  who  pafled  through 
Caspar's  Strait  with  the  intention  and  the 
charge  of  examining  every  thing,  and  who  muft 
have  pafTed  very  near  the  Ihoal,  perceived,  in  this 
quarter  any  appearance,  any  indication  of  danger. 

If  thefe  fhoals  or  thefe  breakers  met  with  by  the 
Warren  Hastings^  and  feen  by  the  Sulivan, 
never  break,  or  do  not  always  break,  they  are  the 
more  dangerous  on  that  account  :  and,  no  doubt, 
it  will  not  be  matter  of  furprife  that  I  have  taken 
fo  much  pains  in  endeavouring  to  afcertain  their 
cxiftence  and  fix  their  pofition.  From  every  pre- 
fumption,  which  appears  to  unite  in  order  to  in- 
dicate the  identity  of  the  Sulivan 's  Breakers  and 
the  Warren  Hastings's  Shoaly  I  have  thought 
it  proper  to  confine  myfelf  to  laying  down  the 
latter  on  my  Chart  5  but  as  nothing  proves  that 
the  extent  which  Larkins  has  given  it  on  his,  is 
'cxaflly  that  which  the  Shoal  has  received  from 

Nature^ 


Dec.  1791.]  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


Nature,  I  have  likewife  thought  that  I  might  take 
the  liberty  of  altering  it  a  little,  in  order  that 
V/ilson's  Track,  drawn  according  to  his  Journal, 
might  not  pafs  over  the  weft  part  of  this  Ihoal. 

A  note  of  Mr.  Dalrymple,  inferted  in  Cap- 
tain Wilson's  Journal,  page  35,  would  feem  to 
indicate  other  dangers  to  the  weft-north- weft  of 
Caspar  Ifland. 

The  BELviDERE,'Tays  he,      being  at  anchor 
"  in  10  fathoms  in  latitude  2°  24'  fouth  by  ob- 
fervation,  Gaspar  eaft-fouth-eaft  3I;  leagues. 
Tree  Ifland  fouth  by  eaft,  had  the  Sboal  about 
a  cable's  length  diftant  5  north-north-eaft  and 
"  fouth-fouth-weft  from  the  fhip."    They  found 
the  "  Jboal  about  2  miles  in  length,  in  fome 
places  from  6  to  10  feet  water,  and  within 

jV^rij' diftance  15  fathom  hard  coral." 
If  we  wi£h  to  look  in  the  chart  for  the  pofition 
of  the  Belvidere,  fuch  as  it  is  given  in  this  note» 
with  refped  to  Caspar  and  Tree  Ifland  (without 
concerning  ourfelves  about  her  latitude  *),  we  fliall 

find 

*  I  obferve  that,  if  the  latitude  of  Gajpar  Illand,  as  I 
think  I  have  proved  (farther  back,  page  466  to  472)  muft  be 
very  near  2°  21'  fouth;  that  of  the  Behldere,  of  2°  24',  al- 
though being  announced  as  deduced  from  an  obfervation,  was  not 
correft  :  for  lince  Gafpar  bore  from  her  eaftfouth--eaft,  diftant 
31  leagues,  (he  was  lefs  to  the  fouthward  than  the  illand  by  4 
n?inutes,  and  her  latitude  mail  be  only  2°  17', 

h  might  be  objeded  that  herobfetved  latitude  does  not  devi- 
ate 


492     _  marchand's  voyage.       [Dec.  1791. 

find  that  the  fhip  was  at  anchor  to  the  north-eaft 
of  the  point  where  the  Warren  Hastings  got 
aground,  and  at  the  diftance  of  half  a  miie  from 
that  pofition  :  and  it  does  not  appear  to  me  doubt- 
ful that  the  fhoal  feen  and  founded  by  the  Belvi- 
DERE,  was  the  fame  as  that  on  which  Captain  Lar- 
KINS  got  aground. 

Mr.  Dalrymple  continues  :  "  Being  at  an- 
chor  in  16  fathoms.  Gasp ar  eaft-fouth-eaft,  12 
"  miles  diflant;  Tree  Ifland  fouth  20'cafl:,  about 
10  miles  diftant,  a  Shoal  of  Rocks  weft-north* 
weft,  with  not  more  than  3  fathoms  in  fome 
places  :  it  appears  to  be  the  length  of  half  a 
mile.'* 

If  we  fet  off  thefe  bearings  and  thefe  diftances 
on  the  chart,  we  find  that  this  ftioal  is  fituated 
to  the  north-weft  of  the  place  where  the  War- 


ate  much  from  that  of  Larl'ms,  who,  by  a  mean  between  3  ob- 
fervations  taken  on  three  fucceffivCj^days,  found  2°  22^ 'for  the 
point  of  the  fhoal  on  which  he  was  aground,  nearly  about  the 
middle  of  its  length  ;  which  would  give  the  fame  latitude  for 
the  place  of  the  Behidere  :  but  as  it  has  been  proved  by  the 
"  comparifon  of  other  obfervations,  made  in  more  favourable  cir- 
cumftances,  the  latitude  of  the  place  where  the  fhip  got  aground, 
compared  to  that  of  Gafpar^  by  Captain  X«ri//?i*s  bearings, 
muft  be  about  2°  iS'^  and  if  there  be  any  doubt  refpefting  this 
pofition,  it  would  be  better  for  the  fafety  of  fhips  coming  from 
the  northward,  that  the  Ihoal  (hould  be  laid  down  too  far  to  the 
northward,  than  that  it  (hould  be  placed  too  far  to  the  fouth* 
\vard, 

5 


Dec.  1791.]      marchand's  voyage. 


493 


REN  Hastings  grounded,  and  at  the  diftance  of 
about  a  mile. 

This  flioal  appears  to  be  alfo  the  north  part  of 
the  Warren  Hastings's  Shoal^  the  fame  point 
that  had  been  fet  by  the  Sulivan  to  the  weft- 
fouth-weft  of  her  pofition,  when  Caspar  bore 
fouth-eaft  3  leagues,  and  Tree  Island  fouth 
half  eaft.  I  would  not,  however,  vouch  for  the 
identity  ;  and  I  am  entirely  of  the  opinion  of  Mr. 
Dalrymple,  who  concludes  his  Note  by  faying 
that  "  Thefe  feem  to  be  ftraggling  S boals  with 

channels  betv^een,  and  therefore,  in  the  day- 
"  time,  dangerous  only  by  negleding  to  keep  a 

good  look-out  from  the  maft-head.'' 

The  inftance  of  the  Warren  Hastings  might, 
however,  prove  that  this  precaution  is  not  fufE- 
cient,  for  fiie  got  aground  in  tbe  day-time.  I  think, 
with  Mr.  Dalrymple,  that  the  great  fhoal  li  tu - 
ated  about  3  leagues  to  the  weft-north-weft  of 
Caspar  Ifland,  is  not  a  continued  flioal,  but,  if  I 
may  ufe  the  expreffion,  an  archipelago  of  fhoals 
the  extent  of  which  is  not  perhaps  yet  well  known, 
and  w^hich  leave,  by  intervals,  deep  channels 
through  which  ftiips  might  pafs,  if  fome  rocks 
above  water  ferved  as  Beacons  and  pointed  out  to 
them  the  paffages  :  but  as  the  grounding  of  the 
Warren  Hastings  proves  that,  at  leaft  in  fome 
circumftances,  no  rock  breaks,  we  cannot  but 
recommend  to  lliips  which  ihall  have  got  fight  of 

Caspar 


494 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.         [Dec.  lygt* 


Gaspar  Ifland,'  and  been  able  to  fix  their  pofi-" 
tion  in  the  chart,  to  pafs  at  fuch  a  dillance  from 
the  place  that  the  fhoal  there  occupies,  as  not  to 
have  to  dread  it.  The  marked  tracks  of  the  na- 
vigators who  have  not  met  with  ihoals,  and  have' 
not  had  fight  of  them,  may  determine  on  that 
which  a  fliip  will  have  to  keep  in  order  Xq  be 
certain  of  avoiding  them.  i 

I  have  thought  it  proper  to  lay  a  fi:reft  on  the  : 
pofition  of  the  fiioals  that  may  be  fituated  from 
the  north  to  the  wefl-north-wefl:,  relatively  to 
Caspar  Ifland,  becaufe  the  uncertainty  of  their 
pofition  and  the  fear  of  falling  in  with  them 
during  the  night,  in  looking  for  the  Strait  Be- 
tween Banca  and  Billiton,  muft  have  hin- 
dered feveral  navigators  from  preferring  it,^not- 
withftanding  its  advantages  to  that  of  Banca, 
which,  befides  its  inconveniences,  has  its  dangers 
too  :  but  as  thefe  dangers  are  better  known,  they 
were  lefs  feared. 

I  proceed  to  the  difcuffion  of  the  other  points 
of  the  Wefl:  Paflfage  or  Caspar's  Strait,  of 
which  it  is  necefi^ary  to  fix  the  bearings  and  dif- 
tances,  in  regard  to  each  other. 

V.  The  East  Point  of  the  Ifland  of  Banca, 
which  fome  navigators  call  its  north-east  Point,, 
forms  with  Caspar  Ifland  the  entrance  of  the 
WEST  Paflfage;  and,  in  the  interval,  lies  Tree 
Ifland,  nearer  to  Caspar  than  to  Banca.  The 
6  bearing 


Dec.  1791.]         MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


'i9S 


bearing  of  the  east  Point  of  the  latter^  with  re- 
fped  to  the  Peak  of  Caspar,  has  been  exa6lly 
determined  by  bearings  taken  when  the  two  points 
were  in  one, 

Wilson  (page  2  of  his  Journal)  fays  that 
in  pafling  betwixt  the  Eaft  point  of  Banc  a 
and  Caspar  Ifland,  he  fet  at  the  fame  moment, 
the  Peak  of  the  latter  north  50°  30'  eaft,  and 
"  the  point  of  the  former  fouth  50°  30'  weft." 

Larkins,  in  the  fame  pofition,  page  20  of  his 
Journal^  fet  the  Point  of  Banc  a  fouth-weft  half 
weft,  and  Caspar  north-eaft  half  eaft,  or,  in 
other  words,  fouth  50°  45'  weft  and  north  50*  45" 
eaft  :  and  the  bearing  is  the  fame  on  his  chart. 

Captain  Chanal,  in  a  fimilar  pofition  with 
refpe6b  to  the  two  points,  found  that  their  bear- 
ing was  north  53°  eaft  and  fouth  53"^  weft  :  this 
bearing  was  taken  from  the  Peak  of  Caspar,  on 
the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other,  from  the  hum- 
mock that  rifes  on  the  middle  of  the  point  of 
Banc  A,  which  comes  to  nearly  57°,  if  we  reduce 
this  bearing  to  the  eaftern  extremity  of  the  coaft. 

We  ftiall  place  the  hummock  of  the  East 
Point  of  Banca  with  refpeâ:  to  the  Peak  of  Cas- 
par, fouth  53°  weft  and  north  53^  eaft. 

This  bearing  is  the  fame  on  Robertson's  Chart 
and  great  Plan,  and  on  Larkins's  Chart  i  but  on 
that  of  Dordelin,  it  is  fouth  59®  weft. 

VI.   Captain  Wilson,  in  employing  various 

bearings 


49^  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  [DeC.  1791^ 

bearings  taken  from  his  Station  h  *,  where  he  had 
obferved  the  latitude  2°  4 9^  and  in  taking  for  a 
bafe  a  portion  of  the  diftance  run  by  the  fhip  in  a 
determined  diredion,  has  made  the  latitude  of  the 
East  Point  of  Banca,  2^33';  and  it  has  been 
feen  that  he  places  Caspar  Ifland  in  his  journal 
in  2°  22',  and  on  his  chart  in  2^  20'.  The  ope- 
rations of  Captain  Chanal  gave  him  the  fame 
latitude  of  2°  33'  for  the  East  Point  of  Banc  a  ; 
and  this  is  that  which  he  has  employed  on  his 
chart  where  Caspar  is  in  2°  21',  as  he  deduced  it 
from  his  obfervations.  The  latitude  of  the  fame 
point  is  2°  3 '30^^  on  the  chart  of  Dordelin^,  who 
places  the  middle  of  Caspar  in  2*  25'  15'' 
(2^21'  \Ç  according  to  his  obfervations  of  1784)  : 
2°  38' 30"  on  that  of  Larkins  who  places  Cas- 
par in  0?  25'  é^^"  :  and  in  2°  42'  on  that  of  Ro- 
bertson, who  has  given  2°  30'  for  the  latitude  of 
Caspar  f .  The  refults  of  thefe  feven  determina- 
tions give  for  the  difference  of  latitude  between 
the  middle  of  Caspar  Ifland  and  the  east 
Point  of  Banca  :  11' — 13' — 12' — 9^^ — 12' — 11%' 
the  mean  is  11'  c^^"  or  12  minutes  in  round  num- 
bers i  this  is  the  difference  of  latitude  that  refults 
from  Chanal's  operations  :  this  is  that  which 
Robertson's  Chart  gives  ;  and  it  is  a  mean  be- 
tween the  two  differences  of  Wilson,    We  may 

*  •S'f^  farther  on  thefe  Bearings. 
+  Sec  farther  back,  page  469 « 

therefore 


Dec.  1791.] 


MARCHAND*S  VOYAGE. 


497 


therefore  confider  this  difference  of  latitude  as  ex- 
aélly  determined. 

If,  with  this  difference  of  latitude  of  12  mi- 
nutes, or  12  miles,  and  the  angle  of  bearing  of 
53°  from  north  to  eafl:  ^  equally  well  determined 
(page  495)  we  wifh  to  find  by  the  calculation  of 
the  oblique  triangles,  the  length  of  the  hypothe- 
nufe,  we  fhall  find  19.8  miles  for  the  diftance 
from  the  Peak  of  Caspar  to  the  hummock 
which  rifes  on  the  East  Point  of  Banca. 

The  diftance  is  the  fame  on  Wilson's  Chart, 
on  that  of  Chanal,  on  Robertson's  Chart  and 
Plan  ;  but  it  is  from  21  to  22  miles  on  Larkins's 
Chart  and  on  that  of  Dordelin. 

This  bafe  whofe  length  and  diredion  are 
equally  well  determined,  is  that  to  which  we  fhali 
reduce,  by  trigonometrical  operations,  all  the 
Points  of  the  West  Passage  whofe  pofition  it 
is  of  importance  to  fix. 

VII.  A  mountain  fituated  inland  on  Banca, 
ferving  as  a  land-mark  to  fliips  coming  from  the 
northward. 

The  pofition  of  this  mountain  is  not  fufceptible 
of  great  precifion.  Wilson,  being  in  a  line  with 
the  Eaft  Poiilt  of  Banca  and  the  mountain,  fee 
them,  in  one  with  each  other,  fouth  8 1°  wefl  : 
Chanal,  in  a  fimilar  j)ofition,  had  fetthem  fouth 
78°  45'  wefl.  The  difference  of  2''  15'  in  the 
bearings  of  thcfe  two  obfervers  makes  us  pre- 

voL.  II.  K  K  fume 


■  r 

498  marchand's  voyage.        [Dec.  1791*      j  ' 

fume  (and  other  bearings  of  the  mountain,  taken  j 
from  other  points  of  the  Strait,  alfo  indicate  it)  | 
that  it  prefents  two  fummits  which  lie  nearly  eaft 
and  weft  in  regard  to  each  other  *,  and  it  is  not  • 
proved  that  the  two  obfervers  have  pointed  to  the  'jj 
fame  :  befides,  they  may  not  have  fet  the  fame 
point  on  the  east  Point  of  Banc  a,  which  is  a  i 
large  round  point,  unequally  elevated  in  its  middle.  | 
Be  this  as  it  may,  I  have  placed  the  hummock,  | 
or  the  Peak,  the  moft  eaftern  of  the  mountain, 
with  refped  to  the  point  of  the  ifland,  weft  9®  j 
foJth,  or  fouth  8 weft.    This  bearing  is  con-  | 
firmed  by  another  bearing  of  Wilson,  who,  from 
a  ftation  G.  which  is  feen  marked  on  his  chart  (in 
18  fathoms),  having  Caspar  liland  eaft-fouth- 
eaft  half  eaft,  diftant  9^  miles,  and  Tree  Ifland 
fouth-fouth-eaft  61  miles,  fet,  at  the  fame  time, 
the  mountain  of  Banc  a  weft  33°  fouth. 

As  to  the  diftance  from  the  mountain  to  the  i 
EAST  Point  of  Banca,  Wilson,  page  28  of  his 
Journal,  has  made  it,  from  his  trigonometrical 
operations,   21.26  miles:   this  diftance,  on  his  , 
chart,  is  that  of  the  point  of  the  ifland  at  the 
fumrait  of  the  mountain  ;  but  that  from  the  fam^  1 
point  to  the  point  of  jundion  of  his  lines  of  bear- 
ing on  the  mountain,  is  20,5  miles.    I  have  placed  ' 

*  This  remark  is  confirmed  by  a  Vienv  of  this  mountain,  \ 
taken  by  Captain  Chanal^  and  which  is  to  be  found  on  my 
Chart,  PlateWl.  \ 

the 


Dec.  1791.] 


marchand's  VOYAGÎo 


499 


the  fummit  of  the  eaftern  hummock  at  1 9.5  miles, 
becaufe  that  is  the  diftance  given  me  by  crofs 
bearings,  taken  from  different  ftations  in  the 
Strait. 

This  mountain  is  not  comprehended  in  Robert- 
son's Plan.  It  is  placed  on  Dordelin's  chart  to 
the  fouth  55°  weft,  and  at  33  miles*  diftance, 
from  the  east  Point  of  Banca  t  this  diftance  and 
this  bearing  differ  too  much  from  the  refult  of 
the  operations  of  Captains  Wilson  and  Chan al^ 
for  us  to  pay  any  regard  to  a  pofition  which,  no 
doubt,  was  determined  from  a  mere  view. 

VIII.  Middle  Ifland,  (and  according  to  Wil- 
son, Passage  Ifland.) 

This  navigator  from  his  ftation  *  at  anchor  (in 
8  fathoms  water,  to  which  the  Ihip  had  fhoaled, 

*  The  bearings  which  Captain  Wil/on  took  from  his  ftgtion  ay 
are  too  important  for  any  of  them  to  be  omitted. 
«  Gafpar  Ifland  »  «  N.  37°  30' 

The  South-weft  point  of  Pajage 

IJlandy  and  the  Eaft  Point  of  Banca 

in  oppofite  bearings,  eftimated  dif- 

tance  from  the  eaft  point  5  miles  . .  N.  28°  W.  &  S.  28°  E, 
"  The  northern  extreme  of  PafTage 

Ifland   ...  S.  50°  30'  E. 

"  Mount  Parma/an  ,  . .  N.  87°  W. 

"  The  fouth-eaft  point  of  Banca  S.  5°  15'  E* 

"  One  Ifland  in  the  Bay   S.  10''  W. 

"  The  other  S.  22°  W. 

Tree  Ifland  juftvifible from  the  poop  N.  25°  3ofE. 

{Wil/on'' s  Journal,  page  i,) 


K  K  a 


m 


Soo  marchand's  voyag£.        [Dec.  1791. 

in  three  cafts  of  the  lead  to  20  fathoms)  fet  the 
South-west  Point  of  Middle  or  Passage  Ifland 
fouth  28°  eafl,  at  the  fame  time  that  he  fet  the 
£ast  Point  of  Banca  north  28*^  weft,  which 
comes  to  30°  30'  reducing  the  bearing  to  the 
hummock  of  the  point  ;  and  he  has  (page  28  of 
his  journal)  made  their  diftance  21. 11  miles.  The 
SoLiDE*s  journal  gives  us  no  bearing  in  the  fame 
pofition  j  but,  on  the  chart  that  Captain  Chanal 
has  conftru6ted  from  thofe  which  he  took  in  other 
points  of  the  Strait,  the  fouth-weft  point  of  Mid- 
dle or  Passage  Ifland  lies,  with  refped  to  the 
hummock  of  the  east  Point  of  Banca,  fouth  31 
or  32°  eaft,  which  gives  28  or  29°;  reducing  the 
bearing  to  the  eaftern  extremity  of  the  point; 
and  the  diftance  is  24  miles.    The  angle  of  bear- 
ing is  28^  on  Robertson's  Plan,  and  the  diftance 
is  16^  miles  only  :  on  Dordelin's  chart,  the 
angle  is  34°  30',,  and  the  diftance  22-§  miles:  on 
that  of  Larkins,  the  angle  is  38^,  and  the  dif- 
tance about  18  miles  ;  but  refpefling  this  laft, 
the  South-West  point  of  Middle  or  Passage 
Ifland  is  reprefented  by  a  large  mafs  of  fliapelefs 
land  which  is  loft  in  the  frame  of  the  charts, 

I  have  preferved  the  angle  of  28°  of  Wilson's 
bearing,  which  was  taken  in  a  line  with  the  two 
points,  and  which  is  30°  30',  when  reduced  to  the 
hummock  ;  but  having  regard  alfo  to  tl\e  angle 
from  Caspar  and  to  other  angles  taken,  other 

ftations. 


>ec.  1791.]  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  ^01 

flations,  in  different  points  of  the  lirait,  I  have 
thought  it  proper  to  diminilh  to  20.2  miles  the 
vdiftance  carried  to  the  hummock,  which  in  Wil- 
son's Table  of  refults,  is  21. 11  miles,  reduced  to 
the  eaftern  extremity  of  the  Point. 

From  the  fame  ftation,  this  navigator  fet  the 
Northern  extreme  of  Passage  Ifland,  fouth 
50''  30'  eaft  3  which  would  place  it  fouth  44''  eaft 
of  the  East  Point  of  Banc  a,  and  at  the  diftance 
of  18. 1  miles. 

But  the  fequel  of  Wilson's  operations  com»- 
bined  with  thofe  of  Chanal,  allows  not  this  re- 
fult  to  be  adopted  :  it  appears  that,  in  reading  the 
card  of  the  compafs,  the  obferver  has  taken  the 
complement  of  the  angle  for  the  angle  itfelf, 
which  he  meant  to  infert  in  his  journal,  and  which 
muft  have  been  Eaft  c^o°  2^* fouth,  or foutb  39°  30' 
eaft.  What  proves  it,  is  that,  in  employing  con- 
jointly the  bearings  of  Wilson  from  his  ftation  at 
II  o'clock*,  thofe  from  his  ftation  ^  at  noonf  ; 

a  bearing 

*  WiI/on*s  Journal,  page  26.  The  bearings  from  this  ftation 
will  be  mentioned  hereafrer. 

+  Wil/ou's  2nd  ftation  marked  h,  is  that  of  the  25th  of  Fe. 
bruary  at  noon  :  the  latitude  obferved  there  was  2°  49'  fouth. 
"  The  bafe  a  h/'  fays  Wil/on,  "  is  affumed  upon  a  fouth  13° 

eaft  courfe,  diftant  13  miles."  We  have  before  given  the 
A,  bearings  taken  from  the  point  a  ;  here  are  thofe  which  were  had 
from  the  point  b. 

"  The  iiuo  IJlands  in  the  IBay^  in  one   Weft 

«  The  north.eaft  end  of  Fajfage  Iftand  N,  64°  41'  E. 

K  K  3  ,         "  And 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.         [DéC.  ijgs. 


'z  bearing  which  he  took,  fubfequently,  from  the 
fouth-weft  Point  of  Passage  Ifland  and  the  north- 
call  point  of  the  fame,  north  26°  eaft*,  and  a 
bearing  taken  by  Chanal  at  5  o'clock  in  the 
evening  f,  I  have  deduced  the  pofition  of  the  moft 
northern  point  of  Passage  Ifland,  as  follows  :  with 
refpeft  to  Caspar  Ifland,  fouth  8°  45'  wefl:,  in  re- 
sard  to  the  hummock  on  the  East  Point  of  Banca, 
fouth  40^30'eaft,  at  the  diftance  of  18.2  from  this 
laft  point;  and  17.2  miles  from  the  eaftern  extre- 
Tnity  of  the  Point. 

On  Robertson's  Plan,  the  diftance  to  the 
hummock  on  Banc  a  is  17.75  rTiil^s,  and  the  angle 
of  the  bearing  fS"";  and  in  meafuring  from  the  ex- 
tremity of  the  Point  13^  miles  and  48'' 30':  on 


«  And  the  fouth-weft  end  of  //  S.  66^  ,  E. 

Gafpar  Ifland  /juft  vifible  from  the  balcony).  .  N.  17^^  E, 
*^  And  the  fouth-eaft  point  of  Banca  in  oppofite 

bearings  eftimatèd  diftance  5  miles  S,  17°  E. 

Mount  Parma/an  

The  hummock  over  the  eaft  point  of  Banca.  . 
The  extreme  Point  not  vifible  from  the  deck 
The  Eaft  Point  is  laid  down  by  its  bearings  from  Gafpar 
Ifland  which  I  obferved  in  paffmg  betwixt  them,  S.  50^  30' W, 
and  N.  50°  30' E/' 

{WU/ons  Journal  page  2.) 

*  Wllfon's  Journal,  page  28,  left  line  of  the  Table. 

+  At  5  o*clock  in  the  evening  of  the  22nd  December,  the 
Soîîdeh2iâi  the  Eaji  Point  of  Banca  bearing  N.  35''' W. — Gafpar 
Jfland  N.  22°E.  The  north-eaft  point  of  the  peninfula  8.9°  30' W. 
An  ifland  to  the  northwaj-d  of  rhis  point  from  S.  40°  to  S,  48° 
^Middle  ox  l^aja^e  liland7rom  S,  25°  to  S,  52°  E. 


Dec.  1791»]  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


5^3 


Dordelin's  chart,  the  diftance  to  the  extreme 
Point,  18  miles  J  the  angle  47®:  on  that  of  Lar- 
KINS,  diftance,  15  miles  ;  the  angle  48°  30'. 

IX.  Islands  in  the  Bay  or  Gulf,  fituated  to 
the  northward  of  the  Peninfula  of  Sel. 

Wilson,  from  his  Station  ^  (page  501,  note  f) 
had  the  moft  eallern  of  the  two  iflands  which  are 
fituated  to  the  northward  of  the  peninfula  bearing 
direftly  well  j  and,  from  this  pofition,  it  concealed 
from  his  view  the  weftern  or  fmall  ifland.  From 
his  Stations  (fee  farther  on),  the  fouth-eait  point 
of  Banca,  in  one  with  the  north-east  of  the 
peninfula,  or,  as  Wilson  exprefles  himfelf,  the 
Outer.  IJland  in  the  Bay^  north  34^  weft.  Other 
bearings,  taken  previoufly  from  his  ftation  a  (far- 
ther back  page  499,  note  *)  of  each  of  the  two 
iflands,  of  the  fouth-eaft  Point  of  Banca  ornorth- 
eaft  Point  of  the  peninfula,  and  at  the  fame  time, 
of  the  fouth-weft  Point  and  northern  Extreme  of 
Paflage  Ifland,  combined  with  the  former  and 
with  the  bearings  taken  by  Captain  Chanal  *, 

*  On  the  2 2d,  at  5  P.M.  the  Solide  had  the  following 
bearings  :  the  'Eajt  Point  of  Banca  N.  35°  W.  ;  Gafpar  Ifland 
N.  22°  E.  ;  the  North-eajî  Point  of  the  Peninfula  S.  9°  30'  W.  ; 
an  IJland  to  the  Northnjoard  of  the  Peninfula,  from  S.  40°  to 
S.  48^  W.  ;  Pajfage  Ifland,  from  S.  to  S.  52°  E.  '  She 
anchored  at  40  min.  pafl:  6  ;  and  from  the  anchoring  place, 
the  hummock  on  the  eaji  Point  of  Banca,  N.  21°  W.  Gafpar 
Ifland  N.  1 3°  30'  E.  ;  the  Great  IJland  in  the  Baj  or  Gulf^ 
from  N.  68°  W.  to  N.  77°  W. 

K  K  4  have 


^04  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  [Dec.  1791- 

have  furnlfhed  the  data  necelTary  for  placing  ex- 
actly the  two  I  Hands  in  the  Bay,  as  well  with  re- 
fpe6l  to  the  fouth-eaft  point  of  Banc  a,  as  with 
refped  to  Passage  Ifland,  and  the  other  Points 
determined  in  the  Strait,  by  bearings  already  men- 
tioned, or  by  thofe  which  will  be  fo  hereafter.  It 
refults  from  thefe  operations,  that  the  eaft  coaft  of 
the  large  ifland  is  fituated  fouth  15^  eaft  of  the 
hummock  of  the  east  Point  of  Banca  -,  north  34° 
weft  of  the  north-eaft  point  of  the  peninfula; 
fouth  26®  30' weft  of  the  Peak  of  Gasp/^r^  weft 
9°  30'  north  of  the  South-west  Point  of  Passage 
Ifland:  that  the  centre  of  the  Ifland  is  diftant  16 
miles  from  the  east  Point  of  Banca  ;  3 if  from 
Caspar  ;  and  that  it  is,  from  coaft  to  coaft,  dif- 
tant 8|;  miles  from  Passage  Ifland. 

The  fmall  or  weftern  ifland,  has  been  laid  down, 
in  regard  to  the  large  one,  from  a  bearing  taken 
by  Wilson  from  his  Station  and  a  fubfequent 
bearing  when  the  middle  of  the  fmall  ifland  bore 
weft  of  the  northern  part  of  the  large  one. 

DoRDELiN  has  laid  down  three  iflands,  on  an 
eaft  by  north  and  weft  by  fouth  line,  in  lieu  of 
the  two  which  are  feen  on  Wilson's  Chart  and  on 
that  of  Chanal  :  the  bearing  of  the  moft  eaftern 
of  thefe  iflands,  in  regard  to  the  north-eaft  point 
of  the  peninfula,  differs  little  on  his  Chart  from 
that  given  by  the  bearings  of  the  two  others; 
but  thofe  of  the  ftation  a  of  Wilson  who  fet,  at 

6  the 


Dec.  1791.]  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  ^0^ 

the  fame  time,  the  moft  eaftern  of  his  two  iflands, 
fouth  10°  weft,  and  the  weftern,  fouth  22°  weft, 
(farther  back  page  499  note  *)  do  not  allow  me 
to  admit  three  iflands  in  the  diredion  which  Dor- 
DELiN  has  given  to  them,  fince  Wilson  could 
not  but  have  feen  the  third,  when,  from  the  north- 
ward whence  he  beheld  them,  he  fet  the  two 
iflands  which  he  has  laid  down  on  his  chart.  How- 
ever, it  is  poflible  that  there  may  be  a  third 
ifland  ;  but,  in  this  cafe,  it  muft  be  much  nearer 
the  mairt  land  of  the  large  ifland  than  the  two 
others,  and  at  the  fame  time  be  fufficiently  near, 
for  it  to  be  confounded,  to  the  eye,  with  the  land, 
when  Wilson  at  the  fame  time  fet  the  two 
iflands. 

I  pay  no  attention  to  the  chart  of  Larkinç^. 
who  has  laid  down  at  random  three  large  iflands, 
occupyi^ng  a  fpace  of  about  9  miles,  between  the 
north  by  weft  and  norch-weft  by  weft  from  the 
north-eaft  point  of  the  peninfula  of  Sel,  from 
which  they  are  8  miles  diftant. 

On  Wjlson*s  Chart  and  on  Robertson's  Plan, 
between  the  north-north-weft  and  north-weft  by 
north  of  a  point  which  might  be  taken  for  the 
NORTH-EAST  Point  of  the  Peninfula,  and  at  about 
the  diftance  of  6  miles  from  this  point,  are  feen 
two  iflands  which  aimoft  touch  each  other;  but 
we  are  certain  by  the  bearings  taken  by  Wilson 
'  from  his  ftation  tf,  that  thefe  two  iflands  muft  be 

feparated 


^o6  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  [Dcc.  I791. 

feparated  by  a  channel  of  if  miles  or  2  miles  in 
width. 

X.  North-east  Point  of  the  Peninfula  of 
Sel. 

This  Point  forms  with  the  South-west  Point 
of  Passage  Ifland,  the  narroweft  part  of  the  West 
Passage  or  Caspar's  Strait.  Captain  Wil- 
son from  his  ftation  h  (fee  page  501  note  f  )  fet 
Caspar  Ifland  nordi  17°  eaft;  at  the  fame  time 
that  he  fet  the  fouth-eaft  point  of  Banca,  in  op- 
polite  bearings,  fouth  17°  weft:  and,  from  this 
fame  pofition,  the  fouth- weft  end  of  Passage  > 
Ifland  bore  from  him  fouth  66°  eaft. 

There  is  here  a  fmall  error  in  the  bearing  of 
the  north-eaft  point  of  the  peninfula  :  the  fequel 
of  the  operations  of  Wilson  proves  that  the  point 
which  he  fet  is  the  south-east,  and  not  the 
NORTH-EAST  Point.  In  the  pofition  he  was  in, 
they  muft  have  borne  from  him  almoft  in  one 
with  each  other,  fince  the  angles  fcarcely  differ  a 
degree  j  "  and,  no  doubt,  Wilson  fet  the  latter 
point. 

It  therefore  is  the  South-east  point  of  the 
peninfula  which  I  have  placed  fouth  17°  eaft  fiom 
the  Pe ale  of  Caspar,  and  the  North-east  point 
is  nearly  18°. 

The  north-east  Point,  on  Chanal's  Chart, 
is  ficuated  in  18*^  30 ^  it  is  20  or  21°  on  that  of 
tXoRDHLiN^  and  in  27*^  on  that  of  Larkins.  The 

con-  J 


Dec.  1791.]  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


configuration  of  the  lands^  iri  this  part,  is  fuch, 
on  Robertson's  Chart  and  Plan,  that  it  is  not 
poflible  to  diftinguifh  a  north-east  pointy  we 
fee  only  that,  in  taking  in  a  lump  this  projecting 
part  of  Banc  A,  its  bearing  with  refpefl  to  Caspar 
Ifland  agrees  nearly  with  that  which  refults  from 
the  Bearings  of  Wilson  and  Chanal. 

According  to  the  pofition  before  given  to  the 
SOUTH-WEST  Point  of  Middle  or  Passage  Ifland, 
this  Point  and  the  north-eafl  point  of  the  Penin- 
fula  of  Sel,  ought,  according  to  Wilson,  to  bear, 
with  fefpe6i;  to  each  other  (page  28  of  his  Journal) 
fouth  74^  weft  and  north  74°  eaft  3  but,  to  adopt 
this  bearing  of  the  one  point  in  regard  to  the  other, 
we  fliould  neceflarily  alter  the  pofitions  already 
fixed  by  other  bearings,  as  well  with  refped  to 
Caspar  liland,  as  with  refped  to  the  East  Point 
of  Ba>;ca,  and  particularly  that  of  the  south- 
west Point  of  Passage  Ifland  which  is  one  of 
the  moft  certain  ;  and  we  have  no  reafons  that  can 
didlate,  or  even  authorize  thefe  changes.  In  main- 
taining the  firft  pofitions,  I  found  that  the  tv70 
points  which  we  wifh  to  place,  lie  with  refpe(5l  to 
each  other  fouth  56°  15' weft  and  north  56''  15' 
eaft:  the  difference,  on  a  comparifon  with  the 
bearing  given  by  Wilson,  is  conftderable,  it  is 
17°  45^3  but  the  width  of  the  paiïage,  from  coaft 
to  coaft,  which  is  the  eflential  point,  differs  on  my 
chart,  from  that  given  by  Wilson *s  refult,  only 

by 


5o8  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.         [Dec.  ijgu 

by  being  6  miles  inftead  of  6.2  miles,  fo  that  they 
may  be  faid  to  be  the  fame. 

On  examining  whence  this  difference  of  17^45' 
may  arife,  between  the  bearing  indicated  by  Wil- 
son, in  his  'Table  of  Bearifigs  and  Diflafices  (page  28 
of  his  Journal)  and  that  which  I  have  employed  on 
my  chart,  I  have  thought  I  difcovered  that  it  pro- 
ceeded from  a  bearing  taken  from  his  dation  h  {Jee 
page  501  note  f)  from  which  he  fet  the  south- 
west Point  of  Paflage  Ifland  South  66®  eaft.  In 
the  pofition  he  was  in  with  refpedl  to  this  ifland, 
the  fouth'Weft  point  and  Jouthernmojl  point  muft 
have  borne  from  him,  nearly,  in  one  with  each 
other  j  and  furely  he  fet  the  laft:  point  that  he  had 
in  fight,  fince  he  mentions  but  one  :  now  the  laft 
point  muft  be  the  Jouthernmojl^  and  not  the  south- 
west point  :  and  they  are  diftant  from  each  other, 
J  miles,  in  the  direftion  of  66°  fouth-eaft,  and  66*^ 
north- weft.  The  fequcl  of  Wilson's  operations, 
combined  with  thofe  of  Chanal,  will  prove  that 
the  prefumed  error  muft  have  taken  place. 

The  width  of  the  ftrait  is  greater  on  all  the 
other  charts  than  on  Wilson's  and  mine;  on  that 
of  Chanal  who  places  the  north-eaft  point  of  the 
peninfula  v^/ith  refped  to  r!ie  fouth-  weft  Point  of 
Passage  Ifland,  nearly  in  the  fame  bearing  as  that 
which  I  give  to  them,  the  diftance  - is  9  miles  ; 
it  is  upwards  of  10  miles  on  that  of  Dor  del  in  ; 
I  z\  miles  on  that  of  Larkins's,  and  ^\  miles  on 

Robert- 


Dec.  1791.]  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


Robertson's  Chart  and  Plan.  But  we  may  be 
cenain  that  all  thefe  diftances  are  too  great  ;  for 
the  bearings  of  the  two  points  which  form  the 
narrowefl"  part  of  the  paflage,  taken  in  oppofite 
fituations,  namely  ;  on  the  one  part,  the  north- 
eaft  point  of  the  Peninfula  of  Sel  and  the  Peak  of 
Caspar  fouth  1 8°  eaft  (farther  back  page  506) 
and  on  the  other  the  south-west  Point  of  Pas- 
sage Ifland  and  the  eaft  Point  of  Banca  fouth  28"^ 
caft  and  north  28"  weft  (farther  back  page  500), 
admit  not  of  giving  more  than  6  miles  opening  to 
the  paflage  between  the  North-east  Point  of  the 
Peninfula  of  Sel  and  the  south-west  Point  of 
Passage  Ifland. 

XI.  East  Coast  of  the  Peninfula  of  Sel. 

Bearings  taken  by  Wilson  from  his  ftation  c  * 

give 

*  c  Wilson's  third  Station  of  which  is  afllimed  from  the 
.  Bearings 

"  Of  the  South-eaft  point  of  Bafica  N.  56^  W. 

And  the  Southernmoft  Point  of  Fnjfage 

Ifland  ...  :  N.    5°  \V« 

**  by  which,"  fays  he,  "  we  muft  have  had  a 
ftrong  current  to  the  S.  E.  Hence 

"  The  Eaftern  Extreme  of  Pajage  Ifland 

bore  :   N.  33"  Eo 

«  And  the  South  Point  of  Banca  bore. .  Weft 
which  had  before  been  obferved  in  one 

with  the  South-eaft  Point.  11°  W„ 

«  The  South- weft  Point  of  Banca  S.  73°  W. 

which  had  been  obferved  in  one  with  the 
South  Point  S.  6f  20'  W. 

"  A  fmall 


^tO  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  [Dec.  I79I. 

give  us  for  the  extent  of  the  eaft  coaft  of  the 
Peninfula  4I;  miles  ;  and  a  preceding  bearing  of 
its  north-eaft  and  fouth-eaft  points,  in  one,  deterT 
mine  their  relative  pofition,  fouth  1 1""  well,  and 
north  11°  eaft. 

This  bearing  is  the  fame,  within  one  degree, 
by  the  bearings  and  on  the  chart  of  Chanal  -,  but 
the  diftance  of  the  two  Points,  or  the  length  of  the 
coaft  is  there  carried  to  8è  miles  :  on  Dordelin's 
chart,  the  bearing  is  that  of  Wilson,  and  the 
diftance  7  miles:  on  Robertson's  chart  and 
plan,  the  bearing,  if  the  configuration  of  the 
lands  admitted  of  affigning  one,  would  fee  m  to 
be  fouth  11°  eaft  and  north  1 weft,  rather  than 
fouth  11°  weft  and  north  1 1^  eaft  j  but  the  diftance 
cannot  be  meafured  there,  for  we  are  at  a  lofs 
where  to  find  the  north-eaft  point.  The  bearing 
is  ftill  more  erroneous  on  Larkins's  chart  than 
on  the  preceding  ;  the  two  points  are  placed,  in 
regard  to  each  other,  fouth  22'' eaft,  and  north  22° 
weft  :  but  it  appears,  in  general,  that  this  naviga- 
tor had  no  other  intention  than  to  mark  his  track 


A  fmall  Ifland.  N.^l.  by  E. 

«  Another   N.E.  by  E.  |  E. 

«  Another  E.N.E. 

«  Another   E.  by  N. 

«  And  another  from  E.  |  N.  to  E.  by  S." 

{ïVil/on's  Journal,  page  3.) 


on 


w 

CDeC.  1791.]        MARCH ANd's  voyage.  ^11 

on  his  chart,  and  to  lay  down  on  it  the  foundings 
which  he  took  in  the  west  Passage,  widiout  con- 
cerning himfelf,  in  any  way,  with  the  relative 
bearings  of  the  points,  and  the  configuradon  of 
t;he  lands  which  feem  to  be  traced  nearly  at 
random* 

,    Captain  Chanal  obferves  that,  in  the  Chart  of 
Gafpar's  Strait  inferted  in  D^Après'  Neptune  Ori^ 
ental         48  of  the  2d  Edition)  by  which  the 
Solide  reo;ulated  her  courfe,  and  of  which  all  the 
French  navigators  make  ufe,  is  laid  down  a  great 
number  of  iflands  on  the  eaft  coaft  of  the  penin- 
fula  i  but  that  he  perceived  none,  although  the 
Ihip  had  failed  at  no  great  diftance  from  the  coaft: 
he  only  faw  a  few  breakers  or  rocks  quite  clcje  in 
jhore:  Dordelin's  chart,  Wilson's,  Larkins's, 
and  thofe  of  Robertson  indicate  no  ifland  on  the 
eaftern  coaft  of  the  Peninfula  ;  and  we  are  at  a  loft 
to  conceive  how  Captain  Caspar  could  have  feen 
any  :  the  different  time  of  tide  may  occafion  a  na- 
vigator, in  pafliiig,  to  fee  or  not  to  fee  Breakers 
very  near  the  Ihore,  which  are  either  under  or 
above  the  furface  of  the  fea,  according  as  it  is 
high  or  low  water  j  but  an  archipelago,  fuch  as 
that  which  Caspar  has  reprefented.  on  his  chart,  is 
vifible  at  all  times,  if,  in  fad,  it  exift. 

We  fhall  confider  the  diftance  of  6  miles,  from 
the  north-eaft  Point  of  the  Peninfula  of  Sel  to  the 
.    fouth^wcft  point  of  Middle  or  Passage  Ifland  as 

4  a  new 


MARCHAND'S  VOYAGE.         [Dcc.  I791, 


a  new  Baje  the  diredion  of  which  is  north  56*^  15'' 
caft  and  fouth  56^  15'  weft. 

Wilson's  Itation  c  has  been  fubjefted  on  my 
chart  to  the  pofition  which  his  bearings  give  rela- 
tively to  thefe  two  points:  to  fouth  56°  eaft  from 
the  north-eaft  point  of  the  peninfula  5  to  fouth  5® 
eaft  from  the  moft  fouthern  point  of  Passage 
Ifland.  I  ftiall  reduce  to  thefe  fame  points  the  dif- 
ferent points  whofe  pofitions  we  fhall  now  endea- 
vour to  fix. 

XIL  Shoal  and  Breakers  to  the  north-eaft  of 
the  north-eaft  point  of  the  Peninfula  of  Sel. 

We  are  indebted  to  Captain  Larkins  for  a  cer- 
tain knowledge  of  thefe  fhoals  on  which  his  fhip 
touched,  but  without  fticking  faft.  Having  im- 
mediately come  to  the  wind,  and  dropped  an  an- 
chor, he  took  from  the  anchoring-place  the  fol- 
lowing Bearings  (page  21  of  his  Journal.) 
The  South-east  of  the 

Peninfula  S.S.W. 

Its  North-east  Point. . . .  S.W.  by  S. 

A  clufter  of  Rocks  S.  by  W.  §  W. 

A  fmgle  Rock  S.  by  E. 

Northermoft  extremes  of  the 
Ifland  (the  eaftern  ifland 
in  the  gulf)  off  the  N.E. 

end  oiSel  N.W.byW.fW. 

Diftant  from  the  Peninfula  4  miles  (efti- 
mated  by  the  eye.) 

He 


Dec.  1791.]         MARCH  AN  d's  VOYAGE. 


He  got  under  way  again,  and,  ftanding  on,  he 
had  the  clufter  of  Rocks,  in  one  with  the  North- 
east Point  of  the  Peninfula,  bearing  fouth-wefl:. 

It  is  from  thefe  bearings  that  I  have  laid  down 
on  my  chart  Captain  Larkins's  reef,  or  the 
Warren  Hastings's  Shoal,  by  reducing  it  to 
the  points  already  determined  of  the  Peninfula  ; 
and  it  refults  from  the  pofition  which  this  opera- 
tion has  given  them,  that  the  middle  of  the  clufter 
of  rocks  is  fituated  to  the  north-eafh  of  the 
North-east  Point  at  the  diftance  of  2^  miles. 
As  for  the  detached  and  folitary  rock,  its  bearing 
with  rcfped  to  the  North-east  Point  is  not  cer- 
tain Î  but  its  diftance  from  this  Point  ought  not  to 
be  lefs  than  2^  miles. 

Captain  Larkins,  from  an  ocular  eftimation, 
has  placed  on  his  chart  the  clufter  of  Rocks,  taken 
at  its  exterior  north-eaft  part,  at  the  diftance  of 
miles  from  the  North-east  Point  of  the 
Peninfula  -,  but  his  bearings,  reduced  as  well  to  this 
Point  as  to  the  South-east  Point  and  the  large 
ifland  in  the  gulf,  admit  not  of  carrying  this  dif- 
tance to  more  than  2^  miles. 

On  Dordelin's  chart  is  feen  a  fomewhat  con(i« 
derable  extent  of  Breakers  laid  down  at  about  the 
diftance  of  miles  to  the  north  and  north  by  caft: 
of  the  North-east  Point  of  the  Peninfula  :  there 
can  be  no  doubt  of  thefe  being  the  fame  as  thofe 
on  which  the  Warren  Hastings  rubbed  her 

VOL.  II.  h  L  keel. 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  [Dec.  I79I. 


keel,  which,  fortunately  for  her,  touched  only  on 
the  edge  of  the  Shoal. 

It  appears  that  the  fea  does  not  always  break 
on  the  north-eafl:  extremity  of  the  fhoal,  fince 
Larkins  touched  on  it,  without  any  thing  having 
announced  to  him  the  vicinity  of  danger. 

XIIl.  We  are  come  to  the  group  of  fmall 
iflands,  fituated  to  the  fouth-eaft  of  Middle  or 
Passage  Ifland,  w  hich,  with  the  fmall  iQand,  forms 
the  EAST  Passage  j  or  Clements' Strait.  This 
group  is  compofed  of  feven  iflands  which  may  be 
feparated  into  two  groups  :  the  firft  ox  Weft  group, 
comprifes  four  iflands  ;  the  fliip  Atlas,  Captain 
Cooper,  and  the  Royal  Admiral,  pafled  between 
this  group  and  Middle  Ifland:  the  fécond,  or 
EAST  group,  is  compofed  only  of  three  iflands  ; 
the  fliip  Vansittart,  Captain  Clements,  and 
the  fleet  under  his  command,  paflTed  between  this 
fécond  group  and  the  weft  group. 

But,  before  we  endeavour  to  fix  the  pofltion  of 
both  groups  with  refpedt  to  Middle  or  Passage 
Ifland,  and  their  pofltion  relatively  to  each  other, 
it  is  proper  to  fettle  the  name  that  is  to  be  applied 
to  each  of  the  iflands  j  for  the  want  of  agreement 
between  the  Englifli  navigators,  who  have  im- 
pofed  names  on  them,  might  lead  to  an  error. 

In  the  wefl:  group,  compofed  of  four  iflands, 
the  mofl:  weftern  of  the  two  northern  iflands  is 
named  by  Robertson,  Sandy  Ifland,  and  by 

Cooper, 


Dec.  I791O  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


Cooper,  Sandy  Beach  Ifland:  the  mod  eaftern 
is  called  Button  Ifland  by  Cooper  and  Barn 
Ifland  by  Robertson.  The  difference  between 
the  names  given  to  thefe  two  northern  iflands  is  of 
no  confequence ,  it  may  eaflly  be  remembered 
that  the  ifland  called  by  the  one  Button  Ifland, 
is  called  by  the  other  Barn  Ifland,  &c.  But  this 
is  not  the  cafe  with  the  two  fouthern  iflands  of 
this  fame  group,  becaufe  the  two  navigators  have 
impofed  the  fame  names  on  the  two  iflands,  but 
not  the  fame  name  on  the  fame  ifland  j  which 
would  lead  into  an  error  the  geographer  or  the 
feaman  who,  wifliing  to  reduce  to  thefe  iflands, 
on  Robertson's  Chart  and  Plan,  the  bearings 
which  are  to  be  found  in  Cooper's  printedjournal, 
ihould  apply  them  to  the  one  ifland,  while  they 
ought  to  be  applied  to  the  other.  Cooper  gives 
to  the  mofl:  fouthern  ifland  of  the  weft  group, 
which  is  alfo  the  mofl;  fouthern  of  the  feven  iflands, 
the  name  of  Saddle  Ifland,  "  fo  called,''  fays  he 
(page  21  of  his  journal)  from  having  that  ap- 
pearance:"  and  "  to  the  north-eait  of  Saddle 
"  Ifland,"  adds  he,  there  is  a  low  ifland,"  which, 
on  his  chart,  he  names  Flat  Ifland.  Thefe  two 
names  are  interchangéd  on  Robertson's  Chart  and 
Plan  :  he  gives  the  name  of  Saddle  Ifland  to  the 
fmafl  low  ifland  to  the  north-eafl:  Cooper's  Flat 
Ifland,  and  that  of  Low  Ifland  to  the  fouth  ifland, 
the  largefl:  of  the  two  fouthern  iflands,  which  is 

L  L  2  remark" 


marchand's  voyage. 


[Dec.  1791. 


remarkable  frorh  a  particular  configuration,  info- 
much  that  it  has  induced  Cooper  to  impofe  on  it 
the  fignificative  name  of  Saddle  Ifland.    lam  of 
opinion    that  the  denominations   employed  by 
Cooper  ought  to  be  preferred  to  thofe  of  Robert- 
son   and  I  ground  the  preference  on  the  follow- 
ing circumftances.    Firft,  I  fee  that  Cooper  has 
drawn  on  his  chart,  at  the  northern  extremity  of 
his  Saddle  Ifland,  tzvo  hummocks ,  at  no  great  dif- 
tance  from  each  other,  which  may,  in  fa6l,  pre- 
fent  themfelves  under  the  form  of  ^ faddle  -,  while 
the  ifland  to  v/hich  Robertson  has  given  on  his 
charts  the  name  of  Saddle  Ifland,  is  there  pre- 
ceded, in  its  eaft  part  by  a  fand-bank  adjoining  to 
the  ifland,  and  fliewing  fome  rocks  off  which  the 
Vansittart  anchored  :  does  not  this  latter  ifland 
appear  likely  to  be  a  low  or  flat  ifland,  rather  than 
that  which  is  reinarkable  from  two  hummocks  ?  In 
the  fécond  place,  I  fee  on  the  chart  of  Dordelin 
who,  like  Cooper,  had  entered  from  the  fouth- 
ward,   that  on  the  mofl:  fouthern  ifland  of  the 
weft  group  which  the   latter  has   named  Sad- 
dle Ifland,  the  French  navigator  alfo  reprefents 
two  hummocksy  and  that  he  calls  it  l'Ile  aux 
Mammelles,  and  I  obferve  that  this  is  the  only 
one  of  the  fmall  iflands  fltuaced  to  the  fouth-eaft  of 
Middle  Ifland,  on  which  Dordelin  has  im|)ofed 
a  name,  becaufe,  no  doubt,  it  is  the  only  one  that 
is  remarkable  :  I  obferve  too  that  it  is  the  moft 
6  fouthern 


Dec.  1791.]      marchand's  voyage. 


5^7 


fouthern  ifland  of  the  two  groups  taken  together, 
like  Cooper's  Saddle  Ifland,  like  Robertson's 
Low  IQand,  I  am  therefore  of  opinion  that  there 
may  have  been  a  miftake  in  writing  the  names  on 
the  charts  of  this  latter  navigator  3  and  I  fhall 
name  on  my  chart,  and  in  the  fequel  of  this  ana- 
lyfis.  Saddle  Ifland  or  Ile  aux  Mammelles,  the 
mod  fouthern  of  the  iflands  of  the  wefl:  group  ; 
and  Flat  Ifland,  that  which  lies  to  the  north -weft 
of  the  former.  Of  the  two  northern  Iflands  of 
the  fame  group,  the  weftern  one  will  be  named 
Sandy  Beach  Ifland,  and  the  eaftern  Button 
Ifland,  a  denomination  which  appears  to  me  to  be 
more  fuitable  than  that  of  Barn  Ifland,  becaufe 
Cooper  fays  that  this  ifland  has  a  round  form.  It 
may  be  remarked  that  this  navigator  (page  21  of 
his  Journal)  obferves  that  "  Saddle  Ifland  lofes 
"  that  form  as  it  draws  to  the  eaftward,  and  then 
looks  moderately  high  and  well  wooded."  It 
is  probable  that  Robertson  who  may  have  feen  it 
when  it  bore  weft  of  him,  and  who  thence  ftood  to 
the  fouthward,  may  not  have  remarked  the  two 
hummocks  which  prefented  themfelves  to  Dor- 
delin  and  Cooper,  when,  in  coming  from  the 
fouth-weft,  both  of  them  had  the  ifland  bearing 
north-eaft  :  we  may,  however,  be  furprifed  at  the 
hummocks  not  having  been  perceived  and  no* 
ticed  by  Robertson,  who  anchored  at  about  the 
diftance  of  4  miles  to  the  fouth-eaft  by  eaft  of  his 

L  L  3  Low 


marchand's  voyage.        [Dec.  1791. 


Low  Ifland,  Dordelin's  Ile  aux  Mammelles, 
Cooper's  Saddle  Ifland  ^. 

The  denominations  of  the  three  iflands  which 
form  the  eaft  group  alfo  give  occafion  for  a  few 
remarks.  They  are  difpofed  in  the  form  of  a  tri- 
angle :  of  the  two  weftern  iflands,  the  mod  north- 
ern is  named  on  the  charts  North  Ifland  and 
fometimes  Thwart-the-way  Ifland  ;  the  fouth- 
ern  is  called  every  where  South  Ifland  ;  the 
third  ifland,  fituated  to  the  eaftward  of  the  middle 
of  the  firft:  two,  bears  on  Robertson's  charts,  the 
name  of  Table  Ifland.  This  lafl:,  which  its  name 
indicates  as  likely  to  be  a  flat  and  level  ifland,  is 
not  laid  down  on  Cooper's  chart,  nor  is  it  men- 
tioned in  his  journal  :  it  was  concealed  from  his 
view  by  the  firfl:  two,  and  may  not  have  been  per- 
ceived at  the  dlfl:ance  at  which,  by  his  track,  he 
muft  have  pafled  fiom  it. 

Cooper's  Track  pafl^^s,  as  I  have  faid,  between 
the  weft  group  of  the  fmall  iflands  and  Middle 
Ifland  :  it  leaves  to  the  eaftward  Sandy  Beach, 
and  to  the  northward  of  this  ifland,  the  breakers 
which  I  have  laid  down  on  ray  chart,  and  which 
are  not  inserted  in  Cooper's.    Thefe  breakers  are 

*  The  difference  of  the  names  given  by  Rohertfotiy  and  of 
thofe  which  are  met  with  on  the  Chart  and  in  the  Journal  of 
CoopcTy  is  to  be  found  the  fame  on  the  copy  of  Robert/on'^  Plan 
which  Mr.  Dalrymple\i2A  publifiied  in  1786,  in  his  Colle^iion  of 
Plain, 

taken 


Dec.  1791.] 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


taken  from  the  chart  and  plan  of  Robertson,  who 
has  there  marked  the  track  of  the  Atlas,  Cap- 
tain Cooper  ;  they  are  placed  to  the  eaft-fouth- 
eafl  of  the  fouth-eaft  point  of  Middle  Ifland,  and 
to  the  north-  north-weft  of  Button  Ifland  (Ro- 
bertson's Barn  Ifland.)  There  appears  only,  in 
Cooper's  chart,  nearly  in  the  fame  pofition  with 
refpe6l  to  Middle  Ifland,  a  place  indicated  by  a 
dotted  circle  ;  and  it  is  faid  in  the  Notes  which  are 
engraved  on  the  chart,  that  in  this  place.  Cooper 
faw  the  water  of  a  green  colour  :  but  St.  Barbe, 
commanding  a  Portuguefe  fliip  in  company  with 
which  he  pafled  through  the  ftrait,  told  him  that 
the  fea  was  often  feen  to  break  there.  Robert- 
son lays  down,  two  miles  to  the  northward  of 
thefe  breakers,  on  the  very  track  of  the  Atlas, 
an  anchor  which  indicates  that  this  fhip  anchored 
in  the  place  which  it  occupies  ;  and  there  are 
other  breakers  marked  within  lefs  than  thediftance 
of  a  mile  to  the  weftward  of  the  pofition  indicated 
by  the  anchor.  As  Captain  Cooper  has  neither 
marked,  on  his  chart,  this  anchoring-place,  nor 
the  fécond  breaker  to  the  eaftward  of  it,  I  have 
thought  it  proper  not  to  lay  it  down  on  mine; 
and  I  have  preferved  there  only  the  firft  breakers 
of  which  the  Portuguefe  captain  has  furnifhed  the 
indication.  I  obferve  that,  between  Sandy-Beach 
Ifland  and  the  fouth  part  of  thefe  Breakers,  there 
is  drawn  on  Robertson's  chart  and  plan  the  track 

L  L  4  of 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  [Dec.  1792. 

of  the  Royal  Admiral,  which  pafTes  between  the 
breakers  and  the  ifland,  crofTing  from  north-eaft  to 
fouth-weft*. 

The  relative  pofition,  with  refpedt  to  each  other, 
of  the  two  groups  which  I  have  juft  defcribed,  and 
their  refpedive  pofition  in  regard  to  Middle  Ifland, 
is  what  it  is  of  moft  importance  to  fix,  in  order  to 
fucceed  in  drawing  a  Plan  of  the  East  Passage  or 
Clements'  Strait. 

Unfortunately  the  charts  which  have  been  given 
us  by  Robertson,  Wilson,  and  Cooper  differ 
confiderably  from  each  other  refpe6ling  the  rela- 
tive pofition  of  the  fmall  groups  and  of  Middle 
îfland.  The  Journal  of  the  fhip  Vansittart, 
Captain  Clements,  on  board  of  which  G.  Robert- 
son drew  his  plan  of  Clements'  Strait,  has  not 
been  publiflied,  at  leaft  this  journal  is  not  com- 
prifed  in  the  number  of  thofe  for  the  publication 
of  which  we  are  indebted  to  the  zeal  of  Mr.  Dal- 

*  Captain  Cooper  certainly  mentions,  in  his  log-book  ( page  20 
of  his  Journal  J  having  come  to  an  anchor  in  22  fathoms,  on  the 
-yth  of  Auguft,  at  8  P.M.  but,  on  calculating  the  courfes  given 
in  this  fame  log,  from  his  firft  ftation,  at  noon  of  this  day,  in 
3°  20'  latitude  obferved,  till  8  P.  M.  and  in  fetting  off  the  refult 
on  his  chart,  we  find  that  he  muft  have  anchored  1  oj-  miles  to 
the  north  8°  eaft  of  the  northern  Point  of  his  Sandy  Beach 
I  Hand  ;  whereas,  on  Robert/ojz's  chart  and  plan,  the  indication 
of  the  anchorage  is  61  miles  diftant  from  this  fame  point,  and 
diredly  north.  Cooper  does  not  fay  that,  from  the  place  where 
he  brought  up,  there  were  breakers  to  the  eaftward  at  lefs  than 
the  diftance  of  a  mile,  as  they  are  feen  on  Robert/on's  chart. 


RYMPLE  5 


Dec.  1791«]  MARCHANd'S  VOYAGE.  ^2t 

RYMPLE;  and  we  are  reduced  to  take  from  the 
very  charts  of  Robertson,  the  bearings  and  dif- 
tances  ;  but  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  this  naviga- 
tor fubjeéled  them  to  the  angles  which  he  had' 
meafured. 

It  has  been  feen  (farther  back,  page  509,  note  *} 
that  Wilson,  from  his  ftation  r,  whence  he  fet  the 
fouth-weft  point  of  Middle  Ifland  north  5°  weft, 
and  the  fouth-eafl  point  of  the  peninfula  of  Sel 
di redly  weft,  had  at  the  fa,me  time  the  eaftern  ex- 
treme of  Middle  Ifland  bearing  north  33^  eaft, 
and  an  ifland,  which  is  Sandy  Beach  Ifland, 
north-eaft  by  eaft,  or  north  56°  15'  eaft. 

From  his  ftation        whence  he  fet  the  South- 

*  From  the  ftation  d,  WUjon  had  the  following  bearings  ( fagi 

3  of  hh  "Journal ) 
The  in  one  with  the  north«eaft  end 


of  the  Outer  IJland  in  the  Bay  N.  34.° 

The  fouth-weft  of  Paffage  IJland.  North, 

The  fouth-weft  point  of  S.  87^ 

A  remarkable  hummock  upon  Banca  (which 

had  been  obferved  in  one  with  the  Outer 

IJland  in  the  bay  S .  50°  W.)    N.  81° 

A  very  fmall  ifland  N.  E.  by  N. 

Another  larger  N.  E.  f  N, 

■Another    N.  E.  | 

Another  ftill  larger,  with  one  beyond  it,  in 

one  with  it  N.  E.  by  E, 

Another  (from  the  maft  head)  about  E.  by  S. 

^A^nother  (from  the  deck  looking  like  a  iailj 

Tery  diftant    S.  E.  |  E- 

WEST 


522 


marchand's  voyage.       [Dec.  1791. 


WEST  point  of  Passage  Ifland  direflly  north,  and 
the  South-east  point  of  the  peninfula  fin  one 
with  the  north-eaft  end  of  the  Outer  Ifland  in  the 
Bay)  north  34°  wcfl,  he  had,  at  the  fame  time,  a 
very  fmall  ifland  (Sandy  Beach)  bearing  norths 
eaft  by  north,  or  north  33^  45''eaft. 

It  is  from  thefe  bearings  that  Captain  Wilson 
muft:  have  conftruded  the  part  of  his  chart  that 
prefents  the  channel  or  open  paiTage  between 
Middle  or  Passage  Ifland  and  Sandy-Beach 
Ifland,  which  is  the  nearefl:.  The  fouth  part  of ' 
Passage  Ifland  prefents  on  this  chart  a  ftraight 
coafl  which  extends  about  5  miles  on  an  eaft  and 
weft  line,  declining  only  2  or  3  degrees  from  the 
eaft  towards  the  north  :  this  configuration  differs 
from  that  which  all  the  other  charts  have  given  of 
this  part  of  the  ifland,  and  from  that  which  it 
muft  have  from  good  bearings  that  determine  the 
pofition  of  the  fouthernmoft  point  of  the  ifland  in 
regard  to  its  fouth-weft  point.  Be  this  as  it  may, 
if  we  take,  on  Wilson's  chart,  the  fliorteft  dif- 
tance  from  Passage  Ifland  to  Sandy  Beach 
Ifland,  and  the  relative  bearing  of  the  two  points 
of  the  fhorteft  diftance,  we  find  that  the  width  of 
the  channel  there  is  31  miles,  and  that  the  bear- 
ings, on  this  line,  is  fouth  5°  30'  eaft,  and  north 
5°  30'  weft. 

On  Cooper's  chart,  which  is  exadly  fubjeéled 

to 


Dec.  1791.]  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 

to  the  bearings  which  he  took*,  the  width  of  the 
channel  is  5  miles,  and  the  bearing  of  the  two 
points  at  the  fhorteft  diftance,  fouth-eaft  and 
north-. weft,  or  45  degrees. 

On  Robertson's  chart  and  plan,  the  fhorteft 
diftance  is,  on  the  Plan,  6|  miles,  and  7  miles 
on  the  chart  -,  and  the  bearing,  fouth  28"^  30'  e aft, 
and  north  28°  30'  weft  on  the  flan  ;  and  37°  30' 
on  the  chart. 

But  on  Robertson's  Plan,  publiftied  by  Mr. 
Dalrymple  in  1786,  the  diftance  is  5^  miles, 
and  the  angle  of  bearing  19^ 

*  Station  II. 
Saddle  Ifland  diftant  6  leagues  N.  45°  E. 

Station  III. 

Saddle  Ifland   E.  26°  N. 

Sandy  Beach  Ifland  N.  28°  E, 

Middle  Ifland  from  N.  9°  E.  to  N.  11°  W. 

Station  IV. 

Saddle  Ifland  from  S.  75°  E.  to  E.  5°  N, 

iJ"/^/ Ifland   E.  10°  N. 

Middle  Ifland  from  N.  5°  E.  to  N.  2f  W, 

Station  V. 

Sandy  Beach  Ifland   S.  32°  E. 

Saddle  Ifland   E.  39°  S. 

Button  Ifland   E.  25°  S. 

Middle  Ifland   from  N.  2°  W.  to  N.  W. 

Station  VI. 

Sandy  Beach  Ifland   S.  8|°  W. 

Button  Ifland  S.  6°  E. 

Flat  Ifland   S.  32°  E. 

(Cooper's  Journal  page  20  to  23) 


4 


Thus 


524         ~       marchand's  voyage.       [Dec.  1791.  1 

Thus  the  four  Plans  or  Charts  which  I  have  i 
quoted  give  us  the  following  refults  :  ; 

Width  of  the     Bearing  of  the  Points  at 
Channel.  the  Ihorteft  Diitance.  j 

Miles.  Degrees. 

lVilfon'%  Chart   3.66   5^ 

G?c;^^r's  Chart   5.00  45 

Ç1786  ....   5.50  19 

RohertJorC^  '  j^^<^(^^\2lXï  6.33  

L        i-Chart  7.00. . .  *  ^ .  37f 

Thefe  determinations  difFer  too  much  between 
them  for  us  to  endeavour  to  reconcile  them,  or 
for  us  to  be  able  to  content  ourfelves  with  taking 
a  mean  between  the  refults.  It  has  therefore  been 
necelTary  to  recur  to  other  means  for  fixing  the 
pofition  of  Sandy  Beach  and  Saddle  ] Hands 
with  refpe^l  to  Middle  Ifland  :  thefe  Iflands 
which  are  the  wefternmoft  of  the  group  of  the 
feven  iflands  which  form  the  East  Paffages,  will 
be  found  conneéled  in  a  manner  fufficiently  exad^ 
as  well  to  Middle  Ifland  as  to  the  Peninfula  of 
Sel>  which  are  themfelves  conneéled  by  good  ope- 
rations to  the  East  Point  of  Banca  and  Gaspt^r 
liland  ;  and  the  Pofition  of  the  group  very  well 
determined  will  identify,  if  I  may  ufe  the  expref- 
fion,  the  Plan  of  Clements*  Strait  with  that  of 
Gaspar's  Strait  • 

Let 


Dec.  179 1-]  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  525 

Let  us  begin  by  fixing  the  pofition,  with  re- 
fped  to  the  Peninfula  of  Sel,  of  the  fouthernmoft 
Point  of  Middle  Ifland,  which  is  not  its  fouth- 
weft  Point,  and  which  may  be  faid  to  belong 
equally  to  both  Straits. 

.  On  the  23rd  of  December  1791,  at  22  minutes 
paft  7  A.  M,  Captain' Chanal,  from  on  board 
the  Solide,  fet  at  the  fame  time  the  South-east 
Point  of  the  Peninfula  of  Sel  fouth  54°  weft,  and 
the  fouthernmoft  Point  of  Middle  Idand  i)orth 
55^  eaft  s  and  as,  at  that  moment,  the  ftiip  was  at 
nearly  an  equal  diftance  from  the  two  points  fet, 
we  may  admit  that  thefe  two  points  lie,  with  re- 
gard to  each  other,  north  54°3o'eaft,  and  fouth 
54°  30'  weft. 

An  hour  after  this  firft  bearing  (at  20  minutes 
paft  8)  the  fouth  coaft  of  Middle  Ifland,  com- 
prifed  between  its  South-west  Point  and  its  moft 
eaftern  Point  on  the  fouth  fhore,  bore  from  north 
11°  30'  eaft  to  north  32^  eaft. 

The  bearings  taken  at  thefe  tv/o  periods  being 
combined,  they  fix  both  the  extent  of  the  fouth 
coaft  of  Middle  liland,  which  prefents  itfelf  to 
-a  fhip  coming  from  the  fouth  ward,  and  the  por- 
tion of  the  Southernmost  Point  of  that  ifland 
in  regard  to  the  Points  of  the  Peninfula  of  Sel, 
already  determined,  and  more  immediately,  in  re- 
gard to  its  South-east  Point  :  we  find  that  the 

latter 


526  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.         [Dec.  1791^ 

latter  point  lies,  with  refpeâ;  to  the  fouth  point  of 
Middle  Ifland,  fouth  43°  weft  and  north  43° 
eaft;  that  their  diftance  is  lof  miles,  and  that 
the  extent  of  the  fouth  coaft  of  Middle  Ifland  is 
3.6  miles. 

On  the  other  hand,  Wilson,  from  his  ftation  h 
(farther  back,  page  501  and  502,  note  ■]■,  and  507) 
fet  the  fouthernmoft  end  of  Middle  or  Passage 
Ifland  in  fight  fouth  66°  eaft  ;  and  as  this  ftation  is 
fixed  by  good  bearings,  as  well  in  regard  to  Mid- 
dle Ifland  and  the  Peninfula  of  Sel,  as  with  re- 
lpe6t  to  the  hummock  on  the  East  Point  of 
Banc  A,  and  with  refpe6t  to  Caspar  Ifland;  it 
follows  tnat,  if,  from  this  ftation,  we  draw  a  line 
whofe  direflion  is  fouth  66°  eaft,  w^e  cannot  carry- 
any  portion  of  the  fouth  coaft  of  Middle  Ifland 
more  to  the  fouth  ward  than  this  line  of  bearing, 
which  agrees  perfedlly  with  the  refult  of  Chanal's 
bearings. 

This  argument  confirms  the  neceffity  of  the 
corredion  which  I  have  before  made  (page  507) 
to  one  of  Wilson *s  Bearings,  by  fubftituting  the 
Jouthernmofi  Point  of  Passage  Ifland  (that  which 
he  muft  have  feen  from  his  pofition)  to  the  South- 
west Point  mentioned  in  his  Journal;  and,  in 
fadb,  if  the  bearing  of  north  74°  eaft,  and  fouth 
74°  weft,  afligned  by  Wilson,  between  the  north- 
caft  point  of  the  Peninfula  of  Sel  and  the  South- 
west 


Dec.  1791.] 


marchand's  voyage. 


WEST  Point  of  Passage  Ifland,  be  applied  on  my 
chart  to  the  North-east  Point  of  the  peninfula 
and  the  fouthernmoft  Point  of  the  ifland,  it  will  be 
found  that  this  bearing  agrees  with  all  the  refults 
of  my  labour. 

Wilson,  from  his  ftation  c  (farther  back,  page 
509,  note  *)  fet  the  eailernmofl:  entrance  in  fight 
of  the  fouth  coaft  of  Passage  Ifland  north  33° 
eaft  ;  but  the  agreement  of  the  bearings  which  I 
have  mentioned  above,  proves  that  there  is  an 
error  in  the  meafure  of  the  angle,  or  rather  a  fault 
in  the  copy,  and  that  this  angle  fliould  be  23  de- 
grees in  lieu  of  33. 

After  having  thus  fixed  the  extent  of  the  fouth 
coaft  of  Passage  or  Middle  Ifland,  and  the  pofi- 
tion  of  the  fouthernmoft  Point  in  regard  to  the 
South-east  Point  of  the  Peninfula  of  Sel,  it 
remains  for  us  to  determine  the  bearings  in  regard 
to  Middle  Ifland  of  the  wefternmoft  iflands  of 
the  group  which  forms  the  East  Paflages  :  in 
order  to  accomplifh  this,  I  Ihall  make  ufe  of  vari- 
ous bearings  taken  from  the  Journals  of  Captains 
Wilson,  Cooper,  and  Chanal. 

Wilson,  from  a  Station  of  the  26th  of  Fe- 
bruary, at  II  A.  M.  which  is  well  fixed  by  bear- 
ings taken  at  the  fame  time  of  four  Points  already 
determined  (the  eaft  Point  of  Banca,  Gaspar 
Ifland,  the  eaftern  ifland  in  the  gulf,  and  the 

north- 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  [Dec.  ijgt^ 


north-eaft  point  of  the  Peninfula  of  Sel  *)  alfo 
fet  the  weft  coaft  of  Middle  or  Passage  Ifland, 
namely,  the  northern  extreme  in  fight,  fouth  79° 
eaft,  and  in  one  with  the  fouthern  extreme  (which 
from  his  pofition  muft  be  the  South-west  Point 
of  the  ifland)  a  fmall  round  ifland  fouth  42"*  eaft  : 
this  was  the  only  land  that  he  then  faw  more  to  the 
eaftward  than  Passage  liland.  This  fmall  ifland 
which  was  feen  in  the  diredion  of  fouth  42°  eaft 
with  refpeél  to  the  South-west  Point  of  Middle 
Ifland,  could  be  no  other  than  Sandy  Beach,  or 
Saddle  Ifland,  or  perhaps  both  in  one  ;  for  they 
lie  from  each  other  on  the  fame  point  of  the  com- 
pafs. 

*  a  Gafpar  Ifland  feen  from  the 

Stern  Gallery  N*  19^  E. 

The  Eaji  Point   of  Banca 

breaking  away  into  trees  N.  22|°  W. 
The  north-eaft  point  of  the 

Peninfula  of  Sel  S.    9°  W. 

The  extremes  of  an  Ifland  in 

the  Bay  (which  extreme  is 

in  one,  with  a  remarkable 

hummock   upon  Banca) 

from    S.  50°    W.  to  S.  62^  W. 

The  extremes   of  Pajfage 

Ifland  fromW.  42^    E.   to  S.  79^  E. 

*^  which  laft  extreme  (that  of  the  8  W)  is  in  one  with  a  fmall 
round  ifland  a  long  way  off,  and  is  the  only  land  we  fee  to 
*^  the  eaftward  of  PaJJage  Ifland. 

At  this  time,  viz.  1 1  o'clock,  the  fliip  is  nearly  mid-chan- 
nel  betwixt  the  ifland  in  the  Bay,  and  Pajfage  Iffand,  rather 
"  nearer  to  the  former,  in  15  fathoms  water.**    fSee  W'dfon'^ 
Journal,  page  26.) 

The 


Dec.  1791.]  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  S^B 

The  linear  diredion  which  this  laft  of  Wilson's 
bearings  gives  us,  fixes  the  limit  of  the  fmall  weft- 
ernmofl  iQands  of  the  fouth-eaft  group  ;  they  can- 
not be  carried  within  the  line  of  fouth  42°  eaft, 
down  from  the  South-west  Point  of  Middle 
Ifland  nearly  through  the  middle  of  thefe  two 
iflands. 

Captain  Chanal,  from  the  anchoring-place  of 
the  22nd  of  December  in  the  evening,  the  point 
of  which  is  fixed  by  his  bearings  of  Points  al- 
ready determined,  had  in  fight  four  of  the  iflands 
of  the  fouth-eaft  group,  and  the  fouthernmoft 
bore  from  him  fouth  56°  eaft*.  This  linear  di- 
redion  from  the  point  where  the  Solide  lay  at' 
anchoç,  pafles  through  the  middle  of  Saddle 
Ifland,  which  is,  in  fad,  the  fouthernmoft  of  the 
iflands. 

It  is  from  thefe  linear  direftions  combined  with 
the  bearings  of  Wilson's  Stations  c  and  d  (farther 
back,  pages  509  and  521)  and  with  thofe  of 
Cooper's  Stations  IV,  V,  and  VI  (page  523) 
that  I  have  placed  on  my  chart  the  four  weftern 
iflands  of  the  fouth-eaft  group,  Sandy-Beach, 
Saddle  Flat,  and  Button  Iflands:  and  the 
pofitions  which  I  aflign  to  them  are  confirmed  by 
bearings  taken  from  on  board  the  Sulivan  which, 
being  in  a  pofition  whence  the  weft  coaft  of  Mid- 
dle Ifland  bore  from  her  from  fouth  65^  eaft  to 
*  See  pages  141  and  142  of  this  volume. 

VOL.  II.  M  M  north 


^^O     ^  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  [Dec.  1/9 1. 

north  45^^  ea{l,  had  an  ifland  (this  is  Sandy- 
Beach)  bearing  fouth  45°  eaft  ;  another  (this  is 
Saddle  Island  in  its  higheft  part,  as  the  hum- 
mocks on  the  north  fide)  fouth  5  1°  eaft  ;  and  a 
third  (this  is  Button  Ifland)  fouth  55°  eait  *  : 
in  her  pofition  Flat  Ifland  was  concealed  from 
her  by  Button  ;  and,  indeed,  he  makes  mention 
only  of  three  iflands  which  he  perceived  and  fet. 
If  the  Sulivan's  pofltion  at  the  time  of  thefe 
bearings  be  pricked  off  on  my  chart,  it  will  be 

*  See  the  Sulinjan's  Journal,  in  the  Appendix  to  Memoir  of 
Chart  of  Sunda  and  Banca,  publilhed  by  Mr.  Dalrymple, 
page  1 8, 

According  to  the  Journal,  the  diftance  of  the  fhip  from  Mid- 
dle Ifland  was  about  four  miles  ;  biit  it  is  evident  that  this  dif- 
tance was  eftimated  too  great,  and  cannot  be,  as  it  is  feen  on 
my  Chart,  but  about  a  mile  and  a  half;  and,  if  it  had  been  4 
miles,  the  Sulivan  which,  from  the  point  of  her  bearings,  fleer- 
ed, according  to  her  logbook,  (page  17  of  her  journal)  S.  f 
E. — S  by  E. — S  by  W.  and  ran  from  \  pail  5  to  9  P.  M.  up» 
v/ards  of  6  miles  on  thefe  courfes,  would  have  palfed  over  the 
breakers  and  the  flioal  of  the  north-eaft  point  of  the  Penin- 
fula.  It  appears  that  G.  Robert/on  thought,  like  me,  that  there 
was  an  error  refpeélng  the  diftance  eftimated  by  the  Suli'van  ; 
for,  on  his  Chart  and  on  his  large  Plan,  he  makes  his  ftiip's 
track  pafs  at  about  tauo  milesy  and  not  at  four  miles'  diftance 
from  the  fouth-tvejî  Point  of  Middle  Ifland  which  bore  from 
the  SuU'van  fouth  65°  eaft,  at  the  fame  time  that  the  north  ex- 
treme bore  ^g!^l^M|j^°  eaft.  But  the  relative  pofition  of  thefe  two 
Points,  fuch  as  it  has  refulted  from  the  fequel  of  my  labour, 
allows  me  not  to  give  more  than  the  diftance  of  a  mile  and 
a  half  from  the  point  where  the  Suli'va7i*s  bearings  were 
taken  to  the  fouth- weft  Point  of  Middle  Ifland. 

found 


Dec.  1791.] 


MARCH  AN  d's  VOYAGE, 


53^ 


found  that  the  three  iOands  which  I  have  defig- 
nated,  the  only  iflands  that  could  be  perceived  from 
her,  fall  very  cîcaftly  in  the  linear  diredions  in 
which  fhe  favv  them. 

In  regulating  on  my  chart  the  pofition  of  the 
weft  iflands  of  the  fouth-eaft  group  according  to 
what  has  been  eftabliflied  above,  the  width  of  the 
pafifage  between  thefe  iflands  and  Middle  Ifland, 
meafured  at  the  narroweft  place  is  4.  i  miles  ;  and 
the  bearing  of  the  two  Points  at  the  fliorteft  dif- 
ftance  from  Middle  Ifland  on  the  one  hand,  and, 
on  the  other,^  from  Sandy-Beach  is  fouth  28° 
eaft,  and  north  28°  weft.  If  thefe  refults  be  com- 
pared  with  thofe  of  page  521,  it  will  be  feen  that 
the  diftance  comes  near  to  that  of  Wilson,  3I 
miles,  and  that  the  angle  of  bearing  is  nearly  that 
of  Robertson's  Plan,  (1788)  28  degrees  and  a 
half. 

I  have  quoted  my  authorities,  the  journals 
whence  I  have  taken  the  data  on  which  my  chart 
is  grounded  ;  1  have  detailed  the  operations  by 
which  I  have  fucceeded  in  fixing  the  width  of  the 
paflage  at  4^0  miles,  and  the  bearings  of  the 
neareft  points,  at  an  angle  of  28""  from  fouth  to 
caft  and  28°  from  north  to  weft  :  I  leave  to  the 
intelligent  reader  to  afcertain  whether  the  ufe 
which  I  have  made  of  the  data,  has  led  me  to  an 
cxad  refult,  and  whether  the  new  chart  defervcs 
in  this  refpeft  a  preference  to  the  older  charts.  ^ 
M  M  2  In 


53^  marchand's  voyage.        [Dec.  1791. 

In  order  to  piacc  North  or  Thwart  the 
Way,  South,  and  Table  Iflands,  compofing  the 
little  eaftern  group  which,  with  that  of  the  four 
weftern  iflands,  form  the  paffage  through  which 
paffed  the  Vansittart  and  the  fleet  under,  the 
command  of  Captain  Clements,  I  have  made 
ule  of  Cooper's  bearings  at  his  Stations  IV  and 
VI  (farther  back,  page  523).  The  relative  pofi- 
tion  which  the  two  groups  take  between  them, 
according  to  thefe  bearings,  is  confirmed  by  that 
which  Captain  Chanal  took  on  the  23rd  of  De- 
cember at  feven  minutes  pad  nine  o'clock  *  ;  from 
the  point.where  the  Solide  was  at  this  period,  the 
fmall  iflands,  feven  in  number,  partly  fliut  in  by 
each  other,  formed  â  group,  the  general  direc- 
tion of  which  was^north  43°  eaft. 

If,  on  my  chart  a  line  be  drawn  from  the  fouth 
point  of  Saddle  Island,  the  fouthernmoft  of  the 
feven  iflands,  to  the  middle  of  North  Island, 
the  northernmofl:,  this  line  will  have  the  direction 
of  north  43°  eafl:.  Thus  it  may  be  concluded  that 
Saddle  and  Flat  Iflands  on  the  one  hand,  and  on 
the  other.  North  and  South  Iflands,  which  form 
the  Vansittart's  PaflTage,  are  well  fituated  on 
my  chart,  with  refped  to  their  relative  bearing. 
As  to  their  difl:ance,  which  is  the  width  of  the 
paflage,  it  is  there  fuch  as  it  is  given  by  the 
crofs  bearings  of  Captain  Cooper's  Stations  IV 

*  See  page  145  of  this  volume. 

and 


Dec.  1791.] 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGK. 


^33 


and  VI,  taken  to  the  fouthward  and  to  the  north- 
ward of  thcfe  iflands. 

This  diftance,  at  the  narrowed  part  of  the  paf- 
fage,  between  the  north-eaft  Point  of  Flat  liland 
and  the  fouth-weft  Point  of  South  Ifland,  is,  on 
my  Chart,  2^*^  miles  ;  and  the  bearing  of  the  two 
Points,  in  regard  to  each  other,  is  eaft  15°  north 
and  weft  15°  fouch. 

On  Robertson's  chart,  the  diftance  is  miles 
and  the  angle  17° ,  and,  on  his  great  Plan,  the  dif- 
tance is  4f  miles  and  the  angle  1 6^. 

The  comparifon  with  the  other  charts  would 
be  ufelefs;  the  navigators  who  conftruéled  them 
took  not  their  route  through  this  PafTage. 

After  having  placed  the  feven  iflands  of  the 
fouth-eaft  Groups,  as  well  in  their  pofitions  re- 
lative to  each  other,  as  in  their  fituation  in  regard 
to  Middle  Ifland,  it  remains  for  me  to  fix  the  po- 
fition  of  a  Sboal  which  may  be  called  the  Van- 
sittart's  Shoal,  and  which  merits  all  the  atten- 
tion of  navigators  who  may  be  defirous  of  paf- 
fmg  through  Clements'  Strait  between  the 
feven  iflands,  leaving,  like  him,  three  of  them  to 
the  eaft  ward,  and  four  to  the  weft  ward.  This 
Shoal  is  fituated  to  the  northward  of  our  Flat 
Ifland,  Robertson's  Saddle  Ifland.  Captain 
Clements,  who  had  anchored  with  his  fleet  at  a 
little  diftance  to  the  fouth  by  weft  of  the  Shoal, 
fent  his  boat  to  take  the  bearings  of  the  iflands 
M  M  3  from, 


^g4  marchand's  voyage.        [Dec.  1791. 

from  the  Shoal  itfelf,  on  which  there  was  not 
found  more  than  a  foot  and  a  half  of  water. 
Thefe  bearings  make  part  of  the  failing  direc- 
tions which  Mr.  Dalrymple  has  engraved  on 
the  Plan  iîfelfof  Clements'  Strait  drawn  by  Ro- 
bertson, which  he  inferted,  in  1786,  in  his  great 
Colleclion  of  Plans  of  the  Seas  of  Asia,  before 
Robertson  had  publifhed  his  general  Chart  and 
his  particular  Plan  of  Caspar's  and  Clements' 
Straits. 

From  the  fhoal,  the  .Vansitt art's  boat  fet 
North  Ifland  or  Thwart  the  way,  eaft  by 
north,  al  2  2     4  diftance  ellimated  by  the 

eye — RoBERtsoN*s  Saddle  Ifland,  which  is 
Cooper's  Flat  Ifland,  and  the  fame  on  my  Chart, 
fouth  by  Vv^eft  half  weft  3I;  or  4  miles  diftant— 
Barn  Ifland,  which  is  Cooper's  Button  Ifland, 
and  the  fame  on  my  Chart,  weft  by  fouth — The 
fouth  Point  of  Middle  Ifland  wéft-north-weft. 

Robertson  has  fubjeded  with  tolerable  exa6t- 
nefs  the  Vansittart's  Shoal  to  the  diftances  efti- 
mated  by  the  eye  3  namely,  to  3-J  miles  from 
North  Ifland,  and  to  3^  miles  from  Flat  îfland  : 
he  has  alfo  placed  it  in  its  bearing  with  refpeél 
to  the  fouth  Point  of  Middle  Ifland,  that  is  to 
fay,  to  the  eaft  22"  30'  fouth  from  this  Point; 
but  he  has  given  up  the  bearings  which  were 
taken  of  three  of  the  fmall  iflands  ;  he  has  placed 
the  fhoal  weft  of  North  Ifland,  inftead  of  weft 


;  Dec.  1791']  MARCHANd's  VOYAGE,  ■  535 

11°  15'  fouth — north  20""  eaft  of  Flat  Ifland,. 
inftcad  of  14^  15'  eaft — eaft  of  Button  Ifland, 
inftead  of  eaft  11°  15'  fouth.  I  am  ignorant  what 
motive  can  have  determined  Robertson  to  give 
to  diftances  of  fmall  iflands,  eftimated  by  the  eye ^ 
and  confequently,  fo  erroneous,  efpecialiy  when 
the  obferver  is  placed  in  a  boat  near  the  level  of 
the  fea,  the  preference  to  angles  of  bearing  mea- 
fured  with  care,  which,  always  afford  more  cer- 
tainty as  to  corredlnefs,  efpecialiy  when  the  mag- 
netic needle  has  no  variation.  I  could  not  adopt 
his  proceeding,  and  I  have  fubje6ted  the  Van- 
sittart's  Shoal  to  all  the  bearings  taken,  from 
the  fhoal  itfelf,  with  refped  to  the  fouth  Point 
of  Middle  îfland.  North  Ifland,  Flat  Ifland, 
and  Button  Ifland:  the  point  where  thefe  four 
lines  of  bearing  met,  has  fallen  niiles.  from 
North  Ifland,  inftead  of  3^  or  4  miles,  men- 
tioned in  the  note  engraved  on  the  Plan  publifhed 
by  Mr.  Dalrymple  3  and  miles,  inftead  of 
2\  or  4  miles,  from  Flat  Ifland.  My  diftance  to 
the  firft  ifland  differs  from  the  diftance  indicated 
in  the  Note,  only  in  the  proportion  of  1 1  to  14^ 
but  the  diftance  to  the  fécond  differs  in  the  pro- 
portion of  18  to  35.  I  obferve  that,  to  reduce 
thefe  diftances  to  thofe  which  were  efiimated  from 
the  boat  that  took  the  bearings,  it  would  be  ne- 
cefTary,  either  to  alter  conflderably  the  ohferved- 
bearings  which  do  not,  like  diftances  eftimated 

M  M  4  by 


53^  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  [Dcc.  1791, 

by  the  eye,  depend  on  a  computation  always  ar- 
bitrary and  very  uncertain,  or  give  to  the  fmall 
iflands  pofitions  relative  to  each  other  and  with 
refpedl  to  Middle  Ifland,  very  different  from 
thofe  which  it  is  impoffible  not  co  affign  to  them 
according  to  '  the  Bearings  of  Wilson,  Cooper, 
and  Chanal,  which,  in  general,  reciprocally  ferve 
each  other  as  a  verification  and  a  proof. 

I  know  of  no  other  than  Robertson's  Chart 
and  Plan  thatprefent  the  eaft  part  of  Clements' 
Strait,  ,  that  is  to  fay,  the  wefl  coaft  oKBil- 
LiTON,  and  the  fmall  neighbouring  iflands,  aM 
which  can  be  employed  for  delineating  this  part. 
But,  in  making  ufe  of  the  work  of  that  navigator, 
I  was  obliged  to  fubje6l  this  portion  of  it  as  well 
to  the  pofition  which  I  have  given  to  Middle 
Ifland,  as  to  that  aflumed  by  the  feven  iflands 
which  compofe  the  fouth-eafl:  Groups. 

I  obferve  firft  that  Robertson  anchored  to  the 
fouth-wefl,  at  the  diftance  of  about  8  miles  from 
the  north-wefl:  Point  of  Billiton  Ifland j  and 
that,  from  this  Point,  to  abreafi:  of  Middle 
Ifland  and  within  fight  of  North  Ifland  or  Thwart 
the  Way,  he  made  a  dire6b  courfe  of  about  8 
leagues  :  and  it  is,  no  doubt,  partly  from  the  re- 
fult  of  this  courfe,  and  the  bearings  which  mufl: 
have  been  taken  of  its  two  extreme  points,  that 
he  has  laid  down  North  Ifland  26  j  minutes  more 

to 


j  sDeC.  1791.]  MARCH  AN  d's  VOYAGE.  537 

i 

I  to  the  fouthward  than  the  north-weft  Point  of 

i|  BiLLITON. 

I     North  Ifland,  at  its  middle,  ^according  to  the 
I  refult  of  the  triangles  of  which  I  have  made  ufc 
'  for  conftru6ling  my  Chart,  is  fituated  in  latitude 
1  2*"  53^  20'^  (the  Peak  of  Gaspar  being  in  2°  21')  : 
and  fmce  the  north-weft  point  of  Billiton  is  le& 
foutherly  by  26  j  minutes  than  North  Ifland, 
i  and  fmce  its  latitude  is  fouth,  this  point  muft  be  in 
2°  27'  10^^:  and  it  is  thus  that  I  have  laid  it  down 
on  my  Chart.    On  that  of  P^obertson  it  is  in 
2°  37' s  and  its  pofition  in  latitude  differs  on  our 
charts  9  minutes  and  50  féconds. 

This  difference,  which  is  the  fame,  within  lefs 
than  I  minute,  as  that  which  we  have  had  in  our 
latitudes  of  Caspar  Ifland  (between  2°  21'  and 
2°  30'  farther  back,  page  466),  may  make  us  pre- 
fume  that,  from  his  anchoring-birth  under-  the 
north-weft  point  of  Billiton,  Robertson  had 
fight  of  SPAR*  5  and  that,  not  having  obferved 
the  latitude  of  the  anchorage,  he  fubjeâed  it  to 
that  which  he  applied  to  Gaspar.  What  con- 
firms me  in  this  opinion  is,  that  having,  by  a 
fcries  of  triangles,  fubjeéled  in  my  work  the  la- 

*  Rohertfon  anchored  to  the  fbuth-weft  of  the  north-weft 
Point  of  billiton,  at  the  diftance  of  about  8  miles  :  from  this 
anchorage,  \e  could  perceive  Ga/par  Ifland  8  or  9  leagues 
diftant,  as  iPxlfon  perceived  it  at  this  diftance,  from  his  ftation 
at  1 1  A.  M.  in  Ga/par's>  Strait  (farther  back,  page  528  note  *). 

titude 


•  MARCHAM'd's  VOYAGE,         [Dec.  1791. 

titude  of  North  îûand  to  that  of  Gaspar^  I 
found  that  their  difference  of  latitude  was  3  2'  30^''; 
and^  on  Robertson's  Chart,  this'difference  is  33' 
30^^,  that  is  to  fav,  the  fame  within  a  minute. 

In  giving  to  North  and  South  Iflands  the 
pofuion,  with  refpeft  to  Middle  Ifland,  which 
refulted  from  the  feries  of  our  triangles,  and 
which  differs  from  that  given  them  by  Robert- 
son, I  was  forced  to  bring  nearer  to  the  fouth- 
eall  group  the  points  of  the  anchorage  where  the 
Vansittart's  anchor  is  marked  off  Middle 
ifland  ;  and  this  was  the  fcle  method  of  preferv- 
ing  to  thefe  points  their  pofition  in  regard  to  this 
ifland,  the  extremes  of  which  muft  have  been  fet 
from  each  anchoring-place. 

Long  Island,  that  large  ifland  fituated  to  the 
north-eail  of  the  Groups,  as  well  as  the  Points 
of  the  coaff  of  Billiton  w^hich  correfpond  there- 
to, mufl:,  for  the  fame  reafon,  have  experienced 
a  general  movement  towards  the  fouth,  in  order 
to  preferve  to  them,  with  refped  to  Middle 
lOand,  the  pofition  which  Robertson  has  given 
them. 

XIV.  Ile  de  la  Reconnoissance,  Shoal- 
water  Island,  and  the  llioals  fituatçd  to  the 
fouthward  of  the  Straits. 

Î  have  fixed  with  all  the  exad:nefs  that  the  ma- 
terials at  my  difpofal  would  admit  of,  the  north- 
ern part  of  the  Straits,  and  principally  -Caspar 

6  Ifland 


Dec.  Î79I.]  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


539 


Ifland  and  the  East  Point  of  Banca,  which  ferve 
as  a  land-mark  for  (hips  that  are  coming  to  the 
Straits  from  the  northward  j  it  remains  to  fix  the 
land-marks  for  thofe  coming  to  them  from  the 
fo  11  th  ward. 

The  Ifland  or  rather  the  Iflands  of  la  Recon- 
NOissANCE  *,  which  Captain  Clements  calls 
Shoal-water  Ifland,  is  the  firft  point  which  it  is 
proper  to  determine,  becaufe  ic  is  that  which 
mufl:  be  made  by  fliips  coming  from  the  fouthward, 
whether  it  be  intended  to  enter  by  the  east- 
or  the  WEST  Passage. 

Dordelin,  in  going  to  China,  in  1784,  got 
light  of  thefe  iflands  in  the  morning,  and,  in  re- 
ducing, by  the  computation  of  his  run,  their  po- 
fition  to  the  latitude  which  he  obferved  at  noon,  he 
made  the  latitude  of  the  fouthern  ifland  3^18^ 
fouth. 

Wilson's  chart  places  the  fouth  point  of- this 
ifland  in  3^  16' f,  but  he  determined  its  pofltion 
only  by  a  bearing  taken  from  his  fliation  dy  as  far 
off  as  he  could  difcern  it  :  and-  we  can  only  make 

*  All  the  Charts  and  Plans  agree  in  making  of  them  two 
fmall  iflands,  on  a  N.E.  and  S.  W.  line,  about  i  or  2  miles 
diftant  from  each  other,  and  conneded  by  a  circular  flioal. 

+  I  obferve  that,  on  this  chart,  the  latitude  of  Gafpar  is 
only  2°  20';  and  that  as  Shoal-ivater  miift  have  been  fabjefted 
to  Gafpar  by  Wilfon^s  feries  of  bearings  and  trigonometrical 
operations,  itmufthave  been  placed  i  minute  lefs  foutherly,  than 
if,  as  I  have  placed  it,  Gafpar  is  laid  down  in  latitude  2°  21'. 

ufe 


540  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  [Dec.  I79I.' 

ufe  of  this  linear  diredlion  for  fubjeding  this  ifland 
to  the  fouth  Point  of  Middlë  Ifland,  by  preferv- 
ing  to  it  its  latitude  of  3°  1 8^  confirmed,  as  will  be 
feen,  by  the  Plan  which  was  con{l-ru6led  by  Ro- 
bertson, at  the  time  of  the  difcovery  of  the 
Eafl  Passage  by  Clements. 

This  Plan,  fuch  as  he  himfelf  publifhed  it  in 
1788,  has  no  fcale  of  latitude,  but  the  difference 
of  latitude  between  the  middle  of  Caspar  Ifland 
and  the  fouth  part  of  Shoal-water  Wand  or 
Iflands,  is  there  57  miles,  or  57  minutes  j  and  if 
Caspar  is  in  latitude  2°  Shoal-water  mufl  \ 
be,  according  to  this  Plan,  in  3^  1 8'. 

It  is  true  that  Rôbertson,  on  his  Chart  of  the 
Straits  of^hi^CKy  Caspar  and  Clements,  1788, 
and  on  his  large  Chart  of  the  China  Sea  179 1, 
places  Shoal-wat£R  Ifland  in  3°  27^  that  is  to 
fay,  9  minutes  more  to  the  fouthward  than  Dor- 
delin  y  but,  on  thefe  very  charts,  he  places 
Caspar  in  2°  30',  in  lieu  of  2°  2i\  that  is,  9  mi- 
nutes more  to  the  fouthward  than  the  latitude 
which,  it  appeared  to  me,  ought  to  be  adopted  for 
Caspar  Ifland  (farther  back,  page  46 9) j  the 
difference  of  latitude  is  therefore  the  fame  on  the 
two  charts.  As  all  the  Charts  and  Plans  agree  in 
general,  refpecling  this  diff^erence  of  57  minutes*,  ' 

it 

*  Rohert/on*s  Plan,  publifhed  by  Dalrympîey  as  far  back  as  the 
year  1786,  in  his  CoUedion,  gives  this  difference  of  latitude 

fmaller 


Dec.  1791.]         MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  541 

It  appears  that  it  ought  to  be  admitted  -,  and  on 
adding  it  to  the  2°  21'  of  Caspar,  we  fhall  have 
for  Shoal-water,  f  ib',  as  Dordelin  made  it 
from  his  obfervation  and  his  route. 

Captain  Cooper's  Journal  (page  19)  comes  to 
the  fupport  of  this  determination.  On  the  6th  of 
Auguft,  at  noon,  at  the  point  of  his  firfl:  dation, 
his  latitude  obferved  was  f  21',  and,  at  the  fame 
inftant,  the  remarkable  hummock  on  the  fouth 
coaft  of  Banca  bore  north  26°  weft — Middle 
Ifland  north  25"  eaft — and  a  low  ijland,  eaft  half 
north  :  from  the  pofition  of  his  fhip,  and  the 
direction  in  which  this  ifland  bore,  it  could  be 
no  other  than  Shoal-water  Ifland  :  but  fince  it 
bore  eaft  half  north,  it  is  therefore  le/s  to  the  fouth- 
ward  than  the  ftiip  -,  its  latitude  is  therefore  under 
3°  21V  and  confequently  nearer  to  3°  18',  the  lati- 
tude afligned  by  Dordelin  to  the  Ifland  of  La 
Reconnoissance,  than  3°  27',  the  latitude  given 
by  Robert'son. 

I  take  the  opportunity  of  obferving  that,  if  the 
difference  of  latitude  between  Shoal- water  and 
Caspar  is,  in  fa6l,  ^57  minutes,  as  all  the  charts 
have  made  it,  and  if  the  latitude  of  f  1 9'  or  2o\ 


fmaller  hy  2  minutes  :  but  as  this  Plan  is,  no  doubt,  only  a  copy 
of  that  of  Rohertfon  who  drew  it,  to  whatever  confidence  a  Plan 
publiftied  by  Mr.  DalrympU  may  be  entitled,  ftill  more  nmft 
be  due  to  the  original. 

fuch 


marchand's  voyage.       [Dec.  1791 


fuch  as  it  is  deduced  from  Cooper's  obferyation 
and  bearing  in  regard  to  Shoal-water  Ifland,  is 
exaft,  Caspar  Ifland  muft  be  in  2°  22'  or  23% 
which  is  far  enough  from  2°  30',  adopted  by 
Robertson,  and  near  enough  to  2°  2 1  given 
by  the  Solide's  obfervation,  taken  on  the  very 
parallel  of  Caspar. 

Robertson's  two  Charts  and  Plan,  which  I 
have  quoted,  agree  in  placing^  very  nearly  to  the 
fouthward  of  S  hoal-water  Ifland,  two'fhoals, 
under  the  name  of  Breakers  -,  and  the  fouthernmoft 
extremity  is  there  at  the  diftance  of  11  miles  from 
the  fouth  extreme  of  thefe  iflands.  It  is  written 
on  the  Plans  that  a  fmall  portion  of  the  latter 
is  dry,  that  it  appears  white,  and  is  very  low.  I 
have  thought  it  proper  to  preferve  thefe  flioals  in 
the  pofition  that  is  given  to  them  on  the  Charts 
and  Plans  which  the  Englifh  have  publifhed  with- 
in thefe  four  years,  and  which  merit  the  confidence 
of  navigators. 

Dordelin's  chart  indicates  a  third  fhoal  to  the 
weft  33-°  fouth,  and  at  18  miles'  diftance  from  thé 
Iflands  of  la  Reconnoissance  (Shoal-water 
Ifland).  He  anchored  11  or  12  miles  to  the  fouth- 
weft  by  weft  of  this  fhoal,  in  io§  fathoms;  and  it 
appears  that  he  examined  it  well  ;  for  on  his  chart 
is  written  the  following  phrafe  : 

Sand-bank  and  rocks  even  with  the  water's 
edge,  feen  by  the  ftiip  Triton  bound  to  China 

in 


Dec.  1791.]      maRchand's  voyagé.  ^543 

in  1784,  near  which  were  found  7  fathoms  water. 
It  muft:  be  covered  at  high  water.  This  bank  is 
laid  down  on  the  charts  of  D'Après"  old  Nep^ 
tune  OrientaL  But  it  is  not  laid  down  00  thole  of 
the  new  edition." 

As  this  fhoal,  on  Dordelin*s  chart,  is  7^  miles 
iTiore  to  the  fouthvvard,  and  upwards  of  i6  niiles  to 
the  v/cdward  than  the  fouth  part  of  the  Iflands  of 
La  Reconnoissance  (Shoal-water  lOand),  or 
about  1  7  7niies  to  the  w eft -Joiith -weft  half  iveft  of 
thefe  iflands^  while  the  fouthernmoft  part  of  the 
Breakers  w^hich  are  feen  on  Robertson's  Charts, 
is  carried  1 1  miles  direéliy  to  the  JoutJnvard  of 
thefe  fame  iflands,  of  which  Do rd el  in  had  got 
fight,  and  determined  the  latitude  ^  it  does  not 
appear  that  we  ought  to  confound  thefe  fhoals, 
and  fuppofe  that  Dordelin's  Shoal  and  the 
Breakers  marked  on  Robertson's  charts,  are 
but  one  and  the  fiime  fiioal  :  I  have  therefore  pre» 
ferved  and  laid  down  both  on  my  chart  3  it  will 
there  be  feen  that  in  placing  them  in  the  relpec- 
tive  pofition  which  has  been  given  to  them,  the  one 
on  the  French  Chart,  the  others  on  the  Engliiîi 
Charts,  the  track  of  Captain  Clements,  borrow- 
ed from  Robertson's  Chart,  pafTes  in  mid-chan- 
îiel,  between  the  two  pofitions,  at  6^  miles  diftance 
from  both  :  and,  at  this  diftance,  Dordelin's 
■Shoal^  that  fan  d- bank  and  rocks  even  wish  the  water's 
edge,  which  muft  he  covered  at  high  z^ater^  could  not 

be 


MARCH  AN  d's  VOYAGE.         [Dec.  179I. 

be  perceived  by  Clements,  as  Robertson^s 
Breakers  of  which  a  Jmall  portion  only  becomes 
dry  and  is  very  loWy  could  not  be  perceived  by 
DoRDELiN,  fince  having  pafled  to  the  weftward  of 
his  fhoal,  and  thence  fteered  to  the  north-eaft, 
he  came  no  nearer  than  9  miles  to  Shoal-water 
lOand,  and  he  muft  have  pafled  at  a  greater  dif- 
tance  from  the  Breakers  which  extend  1 1  miles  to 
the  fouthward  of  thefe  iflands.  Cooper's  track, 
drawn  according  to  his  bearings  and  his  chart, 
pafTes  not  at  more  than  the  diftance  of  a  mile  to 
the  weftward  of  Dordelin's  Shoal  :  but  if,  as  we 
muft  believe  from  the  report  of  this  captain,  his 
Shoal  is  not  dry  at  low  water.  Cooper  may  have 
pafled  very  clofe  to  it  without  getting  fight  of  it, 

I  here  terminate  the  Analyfis,  too  long  per- 
haps, of  the  Charts  which  I  have  conftruâ:ed  of 
the  two  Straits  comprifed  in  the  great  Strait  Be- 
tween Banca  AND  BiLLiTON  ;  in  taking  the  li- 
berty to  make  correftions  in  thofe  which  have, 
within  thefe  few  years,  been  publifhed  by  the 
navigators  who  have  frequented  this  Strait,  it 
was  incumbent  on  me  to  enter  minutely  into  the 
motives  of  the  alterations  ;  and  I  muft  exped 
from  time  and  experience  to  learn  whether  my  la- 
bour has  led  me  to  refults,  the  corrednefs  of 
which  is  fufficient  for  the  fafety  of  navigation. 

I  have  thought  that  it  might  be  ufeful  to  French 
navigators,  who  do  not  poflTefs  the  Plans  of  the 
4  Englifti, 


Dec.  1791.]  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE. 


5i5 


Englifh,  and  that  it  would  be  agreeable  to  them  to 
fee  marked  on  the  Charts  of  the  Strait  all  the 
tracks  of  the  ihips  which,  till  179T,  have  fre- 
quented the  two  Paffages  :  the  traveller  loves  to 
fee  a  beaten  path  :  he  is  then  certaia-pf  not  lofing 
his  way. 

In  Caspar's  Strait  or  the  West  Passage  will 
be  found  *  : 

 I  ft.  Dordeltn's  track  (the  HTriton,  the  Pro- 
vence, and  the  Sagittaire)  going  to  China 
in  Auguft  1784. 

N.  B.  I  might  alfo  have  delineated  there  his  track 
on  his  return,  but  it  would  be  confounded  with 
others,  without  being  of  any  ufe. 

2nd.  The  track  of  the  Sulivan  (Captain 
Stephen  Williams)  coming  from  China 
in  December  1784,  taken  from  his  Journal. 

3rd.  The  track  of  the  Carnatic  (Captain  Les- 
TOCK  Wilson)  on  her  return  from  China  in 
February  1787,  fubjeéled  to  the  Bearings 
mentioned  in  his  Journal. 

4th.  The  track  of  the  Warren  Hastings 
(Captain  John  Pascal  Larkins}  coming 

*  I  have  thought  it  proper  to  difpenfe  with  marking  the 
track  of  Ga/j)ar  who{t  chart  is  to  be  found  in  D'Après'  Neptune 
Oriental^  which  is  in  the  hands  of  all  our  navigators,  and  of 
which  Mr.  Dalrymple  has  given  a  çopy  in  his  Collégien,  This 
track  prefents  nothing  particular,  and  Gafpar's  Chart  on  which 
it  is  marked  is  fo  defective,  that  it  would  not  be  ppflible  to  deli- 
neate hia  track  on  a  more  correct  chart. 

VOL.  II.  N  N  from 


I46  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  [J^CC.  I79Î, 

from  the  northward  in  May  1788,  fubjecled 
to  his  Bearings  and  his  log-book. 
5th.  Laftly,  the  track  of  the  Solide  (Captain 
Etienne  Marchand)  on  her  return  from 
China,  in  December  [791,  drawn  from  the 
Bearings  mentioned  in  the  Account  of  her 
voyage,  and  the  Chart  which  was  conftruâreid  , 
by  Captain  Chanal,  conjointly  with  the  En-  , 
gineer  Le  Brun. 
iV.  B,  I  have  not  inferted  in  my  Chart  the  track 
of  the   Macclesfield    Galley,    coming  from 
China,  in  March  1702,  which  Robertson  has 
drawn  on  his  large  Plan  :  it  prefents  nothing  par- 
ticular, and  would  only  crowd  the  PafTage.  From 
the  parallel  of  the  East  Point  of  Banc  a,  and 
a-  miles  from  this  Point,  this  Track  runs  fouth 
and  fouth  by  eaft,  and  flops  at  the  parallel  of  the 
South-east  Point  of  the  Peninfula  of  Sel  at  the 
diftance  of  2^  miles  from  that  Point.    The  depth 
of  water  is  the  fame  as  that  which  is  feen  on  the 
other  tracks  that  pafs  in  mid-channel  in  the  West 
Passage,    It  might  be  prefumed  that  it  has  been 
marked  on  Robertson's  large  Plan,  only  to  fhew 
a  track  made  in  this  Paflage,  by  an  Englifliman, 
previoufly  to  the  publication  of  Caspar's  Chart 
by  D'Après*, 

In 

*  Mr.  Daïrympîe  has  given  us  in  his  Collection  of  Memoirs 
( Appendix  to  Memoir  of  Chart  of  Sunda  and  Banca,  page  i  to 

JO.) 


Dec.  1791.  I  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  547 

In  the  East  Passage  or  Clements'  Strait 
will  be  found  : 

ift.  The 


lo),  an  Extraél  from  the  Journal  of  thé  Macclesfield  Galley^ 
which  in  coming  from  the  northward,  in  March  1702,  pafied 
unintentionally  through  Ga/par's,  Strait  :  no  help  can  be  derived 
from  it  for  drawing  the  Plan  of  the  Strait  :  but  it  appears  that 
Ihe  is  the  firft  velTel  known  that  chance  has  led  to  pafs  it. 

After  having  been  long  doubtful  refpefting  the  land  in  fight  of 
which  he  found  himfelf,  the  Captain  difcovered  that  it  muft  be 
tlie  Ifland  of  Banca. 

"  Yetlerday  (the  i3th  of  March)*'  it  is  faid  in  the  Journal, 
"  fteering  along  the  coaft  of  Banca,  we  found  it  altogether  as 

good  as  the  Plaiet  fheweth  ;  the  foundings  as  per  CoUumn  ; 

there  is  many  fmall  Iflands  near  the  (hoar,  from  which  we 
"  faw  many  Breakers,  and  from  the  Ihoar  itfelf,  but  they  ar® 

all  fo  near  and  vifible  that  none  have  any  occafion  to  come  fo 

near.    Laft  nigh-t  in  the  evening  at  6  we  got  under  the  north 

Point  of  the  iiaft  end  of  Banca  anchored  in  1 8  fathom,  in 

the  night  it  was  calm  j  we  found  a  fmall  current  along  the 

(hoar  to  leeward,  the  Ifland  N.  E.  from  this  point  or  there- 
"  abouts  dift.  7  leagues  is  very  remarkable."  (Mr.  Dalrymple 
judges  that  this  muft  be  Gajpar  Illand,  becaufe  in  the  original 
manufcript,  is  drawn  a  Beaked  Hummock )  "  In  the  morning  at 

day-light  weighed  and  fent  our  pinnace  on  head  of  the  Ihip  to 
"  found,  and  the  yawle  I  fe,nt  towards  Banca  into  the  Bay^, 

being  inclined  to  have  borrowed  on  that  iide,  but  going  right 
"  in  Ihe  foon  fhoaled  the  water  to  10 -fathom..  I  ordered  them 
"  on  or  towards  the  great  Ifland^"  {This  muft  M'lddh  ot 
Pajfage  Ifland)       and  refolved  to  keep  the  middle  :  fleered 

through  S.  by  E.  |  E.  had  not  lefs  than  13  fathom  nor  more 

than  ,18  till  the  eaft  part  of  the  Great  Ifland  bore  E.  by  S. 

and  the  South  Point  of  Banka  S.  by  W.  then  24,  26  fathom  ; 

foon  after  flioaled  down  to  12,  &c.'* 

"  I  conclude  that  the  South  Part  of  Banka  is  on  the  latitude 
of  3°  2'  fouth.^'    (This  latitude  can  agree  only  to  the  fouth» 
K  N  2  eaft- 


MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  [Dec.  1791. 


I  ft.  The  track  of  the  Vansittart  and  the 
Fleet  commanded  b]'  Captain  John  Cle- 
ments, coniiiig  from  China,  in  the  begin- 
^  ning  of  Jui.Y  178  i,  delineated  from  the  Plan 
drawn  and  publifhed  by  George  Robertson  : 

2nd.  The  track  of  the  Atlas  (Captain  Allen 
Cooper)  going  to  China,  having  entered  the 
Strait  from  the  fouthward,  in  Auguft  1785; 
it  is  drawn  from  bis  Journal  : 

3rd.  The  track  of  the  Royal  Admiral,  taken 
from  Robertson's  large  Plan,  where  it  ap- 
pears without  a  date,  and  without  any  other 

.  indication. 

Independently  of  thefe  eight  tracks  which  are 
marked  at  full  length  on  my  chart,  I  have  alfo  in- 
ferted  there,  from  the  Journals,  thofe  of  the  Hawk 
(Captain  Robert  Rivington)  and  of  the  Pons- 


eaft  Point  of  the  Peninfula,  and  not  to  the  fouthernmoft  Point 
of  Banca J, 

"  On  the  1 5th,  at  6  in  the  evening,  the  fouthermoft  part  of 
"  the  Great  IJIanr/s  bore  S.  E.  and  the  fouthmoft  part  of  Banca 
"  in  fight,  N.  W.  by  W.  dift.  5  or  6  leagues  ;  the  fhip  drove 
*^  to  the  eaftward  with  the  current  a  fmall  matter."  We  are  at 
a  lofs  to  conceive  how  a  fli^p  that  has  the  fouthernmoft  part  of 
Banca  mrth-njoeji  by  ^iveji  5  or  6  leagues  diHant,  can  have  the 
Great  IJland  Jonth-eafi, 

The  Captain  of  the  Macclesfield  terminates  this  article  of  his 
Journal  by  faying  :      I  like  the  coming  through  this  way  much 

better  than  through  the  Straits  of  Banca,  it's  more  fecure 

and  much  nearer." 


4- 


BORNE 


f 

!      Dec.  1791.]  MARCHANDAS  VOYAGE.  ^49 

I  BORNE  ('Captain  William  Hammett)  failing  in 
company,  and  coming  from  the  northward  in 
January  1785.  I  have  difcontinued  thefe  laft- 
mentioned  tracks  above  the  parallel  of  Caspar 
Ifland  :  to  trace  them  beyond  that,  would  create 
confufion  in  the  PafTage  between  Caspar  and 
Tree  Ifland,  by  which  thefe  two  fhips  entered 
the  Strait.  Thefe  two  tracks  have  appeared  to 
me  ufeful  to  be  preferved,  becaufe  they  may  indi- 
cate the  places  that  are  clean  amidft  the  fhoals 
fituated  from  the  north  to  weft-north-weft,  in  re- 
gard to  Caspar  Ifland. 

This  fame  reafon  has  determined  me  to  mark 
the  track  of  the  Mascarin  (Captain  Crozet)  in 
1 773,  fuch  as  it  is  feen  on  the  Chart  N"  49,  2d^ 
of  D'Aprè's  Neptune  Oriental^  2nd  edition,  a  copy 
of  which  Mr.  Dalrymple  has  given  in  his  CgU 
leflion  of  Plans.  This  track  of  Crozet  crofles 
the  part  of  the  fca  fituated  to  the